Of Snowstorms and annoying old women
by MysticAngelDust
Summary: On the night of the new moon Kagome finds herself captured, and she's not alone. Rin has also been captured, but Sesshoumaru is on the way to save her. Sess/Kag Rating to be safe for later chapters
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Alright, its been what? A year? Since I last posted anything… and yes… I know that none of my chapter based stories are finished. I've got several chapters of "When the past catches up to you" written up… they just need to be edited. For now I'm going to play around with a Sess/Kag story. I'm still a die hard Inu/kag fan… but I'd like to explore this pair a bit and see where it takes me.

Prologue:

It was the night of the new moon, and the small group of shard hunters had stopped for the night to set up camp in a clearing Inuyasha had deemed safe earlier that afternoon. Stopping so early in the day to rest for the night with the hanyou's approval was unheard of under normal circumstances, but the night of the new moon hardly counted as anything normal.

"Inuyasha, ramen is ready." Kagome called from her place by the fire, carefully holding said ramen so it would not spill and burn her hands. When the hanyou did not move the girl from the future let out a frustrated sigh and made her way over to the tree that Inuyasha currently resided under, "Look Inuyasha, I know you're bummed about the new moon and losing your strength, but at least eat!" she said with a little more venom in her voice than she had intended.

The recent snows had blanketed the countryside, and finding anything dry enough to make a fire out of was hard enough to deal with. Not to mention her soaked socks and cold feet from trudging through the mess all day. She didn't need a grumpy hanyou to ruin her already foul mood after trying to set up camp. "Fine, you don't want to eat I'll just toss it," She said and made a move to toss the cup of ramen into the bushes behind her, but a firm hand caught hers before the cup could so much as spill water.

"Thanks," came a gruff voice from the previously immobile hanyou as he took the cup from the girl's hands. He couldn't help it that he wasn't hungry, but he was not about to let a good cup of ramen be thrown into the forest. He wasn't looking at her, but he knew she was staring at him expectantly. Slowly he brought the cup to his lips and began to slurp up the noodles in his normal uncouth manner.

Kagome sighed, "Yeah, sure" she said finally after watching his less than attractive eating habits, then turning to make her way to her backpack to set her sleeping bag up for the night. She certainly wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the wet ground again, but it really didn't look like she had much choice.

Looking around it seemed as if she was the only one of the group that had any real issue with the wet snow. Sango and Shippo were both using Kirara as a sort of pillow and Miroku was already long passed out under a tree not far from them. Though Kagome could have sworn that the monk's unconscious state had less to do with the need to sleep, and more to do with Sango throwing her boomerang at him earlier that evening.

Resigning herself to her fate Kagome lay her sleeping bag out on a clear spot of grass, and dug through her bag for her winter pajamas. "Inuyahsa I'm going to go change," she said. Looking over after no response came she realized that he too had fallen asleep; his cup of half eaten noodles on its side next to him. "Great, fine. I'm just going to go change and go to sleep," she huffed as she threw her arms up in the air in defeat.

Stomping off into the trees Kagome tried to find a somewhat dry place to change as she didn't want the clothes she was wearing to be soaked when she had to put them in her backpack for the night, and back on in the morning. She hadn't gone far when she felt something large hit her from behind, and everything went black.

This is a short prologue. Chapter one, and maybe chapter two will be posted by the end of the day… and I'll try very very hard to at least update once a week after that! If not more.


	2. Chapter 1

Brief Note: Rin will switch her speech from first to third and back again depending on whether she is scare, upset, or otherwise upset.

Also, this is actually an answer to my own challenge over at A Single Spark. It will be rather short… five to ten chapters max, and I don't expect the chapters to go much past six pages each. I'm really only playing around with ideas right now.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter One:

As Kagome began to regain consciousness she slowly became aware of her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she was dry which, given the state of the weather recently was not normal. The second thing that came to the girl's attention was that she was not alone. The faint sound of breathing could be heard, and she could have sworn that it was right next to her.

"Kagome?" came a small voice, "Kagome, are you awake now?"

'I know that voice,' Kagome began to try to remember why the voice that just spoke was so familiar, but she was having a hard enough time remembering where she was or how she got there that she was not making much progress. Finally after several frustrating moments of getting nowhere the girl from the future struggled to open her eyes to the scene that awaited her.

There on the floor next to her sat a very frightened looking Rin, and the two of them were in what looked to be an old hut. The long since rotted wood that had once been part of a fire, and the dust covered pots and cooking utensils led Kagome to believe that the two of them were the first to have been there in a very long time. The light shining through the window indicated that it was now sometime during the mid afternoon.

"Rin?" Kagome managed through chapped lips, she didn't know how long she had been there but she knew that her lips had not been so raw and cracked when she was making ramen the previous night. Or had it been longer than that? "Rin, where are we?"

The little girl at her side hugged her knees tightly, and her eyes became like glass as she tried not to cry. "Rin doesn't know where we are. I was playing a game with Jaken when I was hit on the head. I only remember waking up here with a mean looking woman by the door, but I haven't seen her come back since she brought you here yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Kagome repeated, 'Why hasn't Inuyasha and the others found me by now?' Slowly, Kagome brought herself up to stand on shaky legs and made her way to the door. The sight that greeted her was not what she had expected.

They had been carried into the mountains, and placed in an old abandoned hut on a cliff. The snow here was twice as deep as she had remembered the snow being at camp, and she could not identify any way down the mountain through the vast white scene before her.

"Stuck are we?" came a smooth feminine voice, and a moment later Kagome found herself face to face with the wind witch.

"Kagura," Kagome hissed, "What the hell do you want?"

"Why Miko, I'm hurt" Kagura mocked, "I only want to play with the boys, and the only way to get them both here is to lure them with their play things."

"Why you…" Kagome began, but was cut off when a blurr of white shot past her and hurled into the witch; nearly knocking Kagome over in the process.

Kagura, had been thrown against the mountain rock and was currently picking herself up to face off with a very angry demon lord. "My my Sesshoumaru, it took you longer that I thought to get here," she purred.

"Where is Rin," was all the demon lord said.

As if on cue the little girl's head popped from the hut door, "Sesshoumaru-sama!" she squealed.

"Rin, go to Jaken now." Sesshoumaru ordered and pointed in the direction he had left Jaken only moments before.

"Yes Sesshoumaru-sama!" the girl answered and scurried off in the direction her lord had directed her.

With his ward safe Sesshoumaru directed his attention back to the wind witch, who had moved to a position on the other side of the small hut and away from the rock wall. "You will die for taking what is this Sesshoumaru's," he snarled and lunged towards the female demon.

Kagome watched from her place at the hut's door. She knew she should have probably followed Rin, but she couldn't find the strength to move from where she stood. Instead she found herself watching the two youkai clash in a blur in the small clearing on the cliff's edge.

After one final clash the two youkai found themselves facing off once again. Kagura had her back to Kagome and was preparing another attack while Sesshoumaru stood at the cliff's edge ready to counter whatever it was the witch was about to throw at him.

It was then that Kagome saw it. A glimmer of steel from the corner of the field, and it only took a second for her to realize who it was. "Kohaku," Kagome whispered as she saw him raise his weapon and throw it at the demon lord.

She didn't think. One minute she was standing in the doorway of a broken down hut, and the next she had hurled herself into the chest of a very angry demon lord just as both Kagura's wind attack and Kohaku's weapon hit. The lord and the girl found themselves falling off the edge of the cliff and into the valley below.

For the second time in two days Kagome found herself in utter darkness as she slipped into unconsciousness.

When Kagome awoke she found herself lying on a very hard pillow; a very hard breathing pillow. Slowly she forced her eyes to open, and immediately wished she hadn't.

There in the snow under her was a very unconscious Sesshoumaru. His face and hair was matted with fresh blood, and from the shattered rocks around his head she could tell that he had suffered a very nasty blow to the head upon landing. While it was a comfort that he was still breathing there was simply too much blood for him to live much longer if he did not get medical attention quickly.

"Oh god what I have done," Kagome choked as the realization hit her that it had been her fault they had fallen off the cliff in the first place, and now if he didn't survive Rin would be left alone. "and its all my fault," she began to sob.

"Oh my!" came a startled cry from somewhere near by, and Kagome could hear the shuffling of clothing as whatever it was moved closer to the pair. "Oh my, oh my, what has happened here," the voice said again, and Kagome could now see a pair of sandals appear in the corner of her eye.

Slowly moving her eyes up towards the source of the voice, the young woman from the future locked eyes with a very worried looking old woman. Fresh tears made their way down the girl's cheeks in both relief and renewed sadness, "You must help me treat him," she all but demanded of the woman, "Please…" she added in a small whisper.

The woman's eyes softened, "Of course child. Here, come help me carry him to my home and we will care for his injuries," she said as she gently helped the young girl to her feet and then moved to lift the demon under his good arm.

Kagome nodded and moved to the side of Sesshoumaru's body where the arm was missing and picked him up by the shoulder, cradling his head as carefully as she could on her own shoulder; not caring that fresh blood flowed freely from his wounds and into her own clothing.

The woman's house was not small by any means. It consisted of three rooms; the main room, which was meant for general gathering and eating, and two bedrooms. The woman led them into the spare bedroom and began helping Kagome clean and dress the demon lord's wounds.

"What is your name child?" The woman asked when Sesshoumaru was finally bandaged up and sleeping soundly.

"Kagome," the girl replied simply; never taking her eyes off the sleeping demon in front of her. Unshed tears threatened to spill anew as the thought of her role in his condition began to creep its way back into her mind.

The old woman only smiled, "I am Talia, and he is?" she asked, motioning towards the demon.

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome said. This time she was not able to hold back the tears. Pulling her knees to her chest and locking her arms around them she rocked slightly, "this is all my fault," she whispered. Inuyasha was right; she did only get in the way and cause trouble.

"Now child, everything will be just fine," the woman tried to assure the girl who was obviously distressed, "Here, let me clean you up and get you into some decent clothes."

"No thank you," Kagome said, "I'm going to stay right here until he wakes up."

Talia only nodded and stood, "Well then I am going to go prepare dinner. I'm sure he will wake up soon," she said and made her way out of the small room.

Kagome didn't know how long she sat there staring at him. He looked so peaceful, and for a moment one could almost believe that he wasn't a cold blooded killer that would have rather killed her than have to look at her.

Talia returned with two bowels of stew in hand, and offered one to Kagome. "Your mate will be fine child, but for now you should eat," she said and took her place on the other side of the pallet Sesshoumaru was on.

Startled, Kagome stared into the bowel. "He is not my mate," she said simply.

"Of course not child, now eat," Talia encouraged.

"Inuyasha it's been nearly three days, how far could she have gone?" Shippo cried from Miroku's shoulder.

The hanyou didn't even bother to look back, "How the hell should I know in all this snow? Her scent's all but gone!" he yelled. He felt guilty enough for falling asleep and leaving everyone vulnerable to attack; it didn't help that the fox kit felt it was necessary to remind him every ten minutes that Kagome had been taken that night. They had nothing to go on other than the scent of Naraku that ended at the base of the mountains they were now trying to find a way up. But the snow had not stopped, and nearly every pass into the mountains were now blocked.

But he wasn't about to give up yet, 'I'll save you Kagome, I promise,' his mind whispered.

Sesshoumaru didn't know what it was that woke him. Perhaps it was the smell of food nearby, or the soft murmur of voices that rushed into his head like thunder; threatening to tear his skull in two. Slowly he opened his eyes and was met by two sets of concerned ones staring at him. One, a young woman whose clothing was covered in blood and her eyes red with fresh tears falling from them, but he could see relief wash over her features as he looked at her.

The other, an old woman who quickly moved to his side and began to speak, "You are awake child, how do you feel?" she asked.

He could only continue to stare at the two. The older woman he knew he did not know, but the younger one he felt that somewhere he should know who she was but could not bring forth her name in his mind. In fact, he could not remember his own name. "Where am I?" was all he could manage.

"You are in my home," Talia replied, "I found you in the forest with Kagome," she finished, extending her hand towards the girl across from him for emphasis.

"Is that your name?" he asked the girl. He watched her eyes flash with an emotion he could not read as she nodded hesitantly. "If the woman found you with me, then you must know my name?" he asked.

Kagome's heart stopped, "You… you don't remember your name?" Her voice came out in only a small whisper, but she knew he heard it. His head moved slowly from side to side confirming her fears. Sesshoumaru had no memory of who he was.

Here's as good of a place as any to stop. Please let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 2

I'm actually having a good bit of fun with this. Again, the chapters are going to be short as this is only something I am playing with.

And a brief note on the old woman: She is old, very old. And as I'm sure everyone knows… once people get a certain age they don't always make a whole lot of sense. Talia isn't supposed to be completely rational. She is designed to be driven towards making what she wants to be true a reality.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

--

Chapter 2:

Kagome fought to breathe, and fought harder against the new wave of tears that threatened to fall. Of all the stupid, inconsiderate, and overly silly things she had done in her life this one had to be by far the worst. Sesshoumaru was a youkai lord; not a fragile human who would have been killed by Kagura and Kohaku's combined attack. In fact, it was very likely that he would have deflected them both with ease. But she simply had to jump in and knock them both off a mountain, of which she wasn't even sure how far up they had been. And now here they were, in the middle of a valley, in the middle of the first winter's snow, and Sesshoumaru had no memory of who he was.

'Great going Kagome,' she silently berated herself. She'd only half paid attention to her psychology classes in school, but from what she'd remembered memory wasn't something very well known and amnesia patients often take a very long time to regain their memories. She suddenly felt very sick to her stomach, and the air in the room weighed heavily on her shoulders. She had to get out. She had to think.

As quickly as she was able to manage under tired and abused limbs she got to her feet, "I need some air," she said quietly; never looking again in Sesshoumaru's direction, "Talia, I'm sure you will make sure Sesshoumaru eats something" It was a statement more than it was a question, and she did not wait for a response. She soon found herself outside; leaning the weight of her body on the outside of the home.

"I'm so sorry Rin," she whispered towards the now darkening sky, "Now you're going to have to be alone even longer. And it's all my fault." He had come to save Rin, and while he had managed to save her she would now have to survive the winter alone with only the slimy toad Jaken to care for her, and Kagome wasn't sure if he would even keep Rin around long if his lord did not return.

Her body suddenly felt heavy, and her right shoulder began throbbing painfully. Moving her left hand over the source of the pain she was startled to find it still wet. 'But the rest of my clothing is dry,' she thought as she brought her hand back to inspect what it was that was wet.

Fresh blood was smeared on her previously clean hand, 'I must have been injured during the fall as well,' she thought, 'there was so much blood I guess I couldn't tell where Sesshoumaru's stopped and my own started.' The girl from the future let out a heavy sigh, "This is just what I needed to make my week so much better," she whispered sarcastically as she shifted her weight on the wall from her right to her left side, and slid her body down until she was seated on the wet ground. 'I think I'll just take a nap,' was her last thought before allowing herself to sleep.

--

"My name is Sesshoumaru then," the demon lord said to no one in particular after watching the girl called Kagome leave the room. He didn't know why he was unable to remember his own name, how he came to be where he was, or why the girl had been found with him. In fact, as he thought on it he could not remember even farther back than that. He did not even know where he had come from, or remember any part of his past beyond waking up in his current state. It was frustrating to say the least.

The girl obviously retained her memories, and would most likely know more about him as well; if the look in her eyes when she realized he did not remember anything was any indication. Had it been pain that he had seen there? And if so, why would his lack of memory cause her pain? He would be sure to ask her these things when she returned.

"Do not fret child," Talia's voice broke through the taiyoukai's thoughts, "Your mate will return soon enough. For now, eat." She finished as she held a bowel of stew up to him in encouragement. But he did not take it. Instead he brought his eyes up to the old woman's in shock.

"My mate?" he questioned hesitantly. He was not sure what the term meant, but it caused an uncomfortable sensation in his gut that he did not recognize. Disgust? Or was it guilt? He did not know which. "I'm afraid old woman that I do not understand what you mean by this word 'mate'" he said simply, and turned his gaze back to where the girl had disappeared only moments before.

Talia chuckled softly, and place the forgotten bowl of stew on the floor next to her. "Mates my child," she began, "Now that is a complicated story." The old woman suddenly felt thirty again, explaining the birds and the bees to her children. The thought was both amusing and heartwarming at the same time.

"I am listening."

"Of course you are," Talia said, and cleared her throat to begin her tale. "Mates are partners. A male and a female who have come to the mutual understanding that they cannot live without the other. They seek comfort in one another's embrace, and will fight to the death to protect the other. It is usually the male's duty to be the stronger of the two. To provide for his female, and eventually any offspring they may have."

Talia paused for a moment to gauge the youkai's reaction, and when she only found him studying the doorway intently just as he had been before she decided to add a few of her own embellishments to the story, "Once chosen, there are no others for either the male or the female. The two are together for life, and often when one falls the other will soon follow from grief. Humans such as myself call this love, but I am not aware of what name youkai give it," she finished.

While her last statement was true for some youkai; it was not true for all, and she was not aware of what kind of demon this man was. But he was demon all the same, and the girl was human. She didn't see anything wrong with helping the poor girl along in what Talia knew to be an already difficult journey in choosing a youkai as a life partner.

Sesshoumaru said nothing as he processed what the woman had just said. While he had not recognized the term when first spoken, he knew that he had known its meaning. Perhaps it was instinct, but he knew that the old woman was right. "And the girl informed you that I am her mate?" he asked simply.

Talia grinned, "Oh quite the contrary, when I mentioned it she outright denied it on the spot," she said as she stood with the forgotten stew in hand and made her way to the window to dispose of the now cold contents.

"Then I do not understand, if the girl denied it why do you still insist that it is so?" Sesshoumaru inquired.

"That, is simple," she replied confidently, "You are youkai. She is human."

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Why everything child!" Talia insisted, "Youkai are naturally stronger and longer lived than humans. It only takes a glance at the two of you to see that you fell in battle, and she blames herself. She believes that had you been mated to a youkai female you would not have sustained such injuries, and thus denies any claim on you from her guilt" Talia said as she rested her tired body against the window. It had been many years since she had been involved in such excitement, and her old body was not holding up as well as she would have liked.

"You seem so very sure of yourself woman. Even though you have but only found the two of us in the forest, and have no prior knowledge of our lives." The demon lord countered, "Your argument makes little sense. Had I chosen her as my mate then I would have accepted her for the strengths she already possessed, and her human heritage would not have mattered. She would have no reason to feel guilt over my own inability to protect my mate and my person."

Talia folded her arms defiantly, "While you have a valid argument youkai, if I recall you were not conscious when I found the two of you lying in a bloodied mess in the snow. You did not hear her sobs of guilt, nor were you here to witness her unwavering devotion in caring for you," she paused for a moment in triumph as she saw the evidence of the realization that she may be right swept over Sesshoumaru's features, "She would do nothing but stay by your side. She refused any offers to clean the blood from her own body, or fresh clothing. She would not even eat. Perhaps she was correct in saying that she was not your mate, but there is no mistaking that she is the very least your intended."

Seeing that she had all but won the discussion Talia made her way to the door; her old bones popping and cracking as she did. "She has been gone a while now. I think I will go check on her," she said and placed her hand on the screen to push it aside.

"And if she continues to deny me?" Sesshoumaru's deep voice came in a whisper from his pallet on the floor.

"Then you have all winter to prove to her that her thoughts are wrong," Talia replied, "We are in the middle of a valley, surrounded by mountains. The snows have blocked all passage; even to a youkai such as you. You will have to wait until the snows melt in the spring to leave this place." She finished before disappearing through the door and dropping the screen behind her, and leaving the demon lord to think on his situation.

To say he was confused would be putting it lightly. After all, he was sure that it was not every day that he awoke to the face of a tear stricken young woman covered in blood and an old woman, who was proving to be more annoying every time she spoke, with no memory of his past or who he was. One would say that Sesshoumaru was having a very bad day, and now he is left with the possibility that the woman called Kagome may or may not have been his mate or at the very least his intended.

The old woman was right. The pieces did fit. Kagome's appearance when he had first awoken was that of a grief stricken female that had neither eaten or bathed in fear of leaving his side, and the emotion that had passed through her large blue eyes when she realized he had no memory. It had not been identifiable at the time but now he was sure that it had been pain. Pain that someone dear to her did not remember who he was. Did not remember who she was.

If this was the case then the fault clearly fell on himself for being weaker than whatever it was that had attacked them, and he would simply have to prove to her that her own guilt held no merit. He would only have to hope that his memories returned to him before spring so that the two of them could return to wherever it was they were from healed and happy as he was sure they had once been.

"Oh my!" Talia's voice came from outside the home in a panic, "Oh my, oh my Kagome child what has happened!"

Sesshoumaru's chest tightened painfully. Fighting the pain in his head, and the swimming of his vision he brought himself to his feet and rushed quickly out to find what the source of the old woman's distress had been.

Outside the home he found the old woman bent over something resting against the wall. He smelled the thick coppery smell of fresh blood before he saw the evidence of it in a puddle at Talia's feet. Panic rushed through his body as he realized that the form the old woman was now attempting to move was that of Kagome, and the blood was hers. Before he realized it a low growl sounded in his chest and he rushed to the side of the fallen girl, nearly knocking Talia over as he did so.

"Sesshoumaru you must take her inside so that I may clean her and tend to her wounds," Talia said as she ushered him back into the hut, "And you will go back to your pallet once you put her in my room over there on the left." She insisted while hurrying to the back of the main room where she had placed the clean bandages after finishing with the demon's wounds earlier that day. Shuffling through the cabinets she quickly located the jars of medicinal herbs she would need as well as what she hoped was enough clean bandages and linens to clean up the mess that was the girl called Kagome.

Sesshoumaru however had not listened to the old woman's orders. He had immediately returned to the room that he had been occupying to the right of the main room rather than the old woman's room to the left.

Quickly, and as carefully as he could manage he began removing the tattered pieces of cloth that had once been her clothing. He had not realized before how little she wore, and wondered briefly if the cloth that should have been covering her legs had been torn during their battle, or if he normally made a habit of allowing her to show every other male with eyes portions of her body that only a mate should see.

"Sesshoumaru, this is not the room I told you to place her in!" Talia admonished as she hurried into the room with an armful of healing supplies. Placing them in a clean corner of the room she quickly spread clean linens in an open space on the floor that would act as a make shift futon while she dressed the girl's wounds, and then turned to Sesshoumaru to find that he had removed nearly all the girl's clothing; save for a small scrap of cloth that covered her lower regions and another that shielded her chest from view. "Bring her here, and then sit over there and turn around" the old woman ordered.

But her demand was met by a low snarl, and Sesshoumaru pulled the girl's body closer to his own, "I will be the one to care for her," he growled, "If she is my mate as you say then it is my right."

"And if she is only but your intended you have not yet gained the right to see her in this manner," Talia retorted, "Youkai, I do not have time to argue with you while the poor girl's life is draining from her body," the old woman hissed, "Would you rather risk her embarrassment and anger towards you for taking something you have not yet been given privy to just so that you may tend to wounds that I am more than able to care for?"

The old woman was right yet again, "You are an annoying human," he growled lowly as he carefully placed Kagome on the futon the old woman had directed him towards, and then turned back to take his place with his back to the two of them on his own futon. At least she wasn't trying to send him outside. He would have to depend on his nose to make sure the girl did not take a turn for the worst while in the care of the annoying old hag.

"It looks as if a weapon of some sort pierced her right shoulder here, but it's not as bad as it looks." Talia mumbled as she worked to clean the blood from Kagome's body and apply the proper herbs to the wound, "Once I have this bandaged up she will just need some rest and she will be fine." She said.

The youkai only grunted in response from his place on the other side of the room. His head was beginning to throb again, and the tightening in his chest was beginning to subside with the woman's news that Kagome's life was not in danger. 'If this is what it feels like when one's mate is in danger I am surprised I still live,' he thought to himself, 'and if she is but only my intended I fear for what will become of me should we become mates.'

It was not long before Talia informed the demon lord that he was now permitted to turn around and see the girl that now lay peacefully on the futon. The old woman had dressed her in a simple winter yukata, and covered her with several blankets that had obviously been made from the fur of the local wildlife. Sesshoumaru found himself at Kagome's side staring down at her face. It was quite beautiful now that it was cleaned of blood and tears, and he could see how he had been drawn to take a human female as his own.

Carefully, he used his one arm to pick both her and the furs up and carry them into the corner of the room where he lowered himself to the floor. He positioned her in his lap so that her head rested on his good shoulder, and began a low growl deep within his chest. He couldn't bring the reason for it to the front of his mind, but he somehow knew that it was meant to comfort her in some way. Gently resting his chin on the crown of the girls head he allowed himself to drift into a dreamless sleep.

Talia spied on the pair from the doorway. They made such a beautiful pair, 'It would be a shame if they allowed this ordeal to separate them,' she thought to herself, 'It's a good thing I am here to help them overcome and find one another again."


	4. Chapter 3

I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed for their comments.

Unfortunately, even though this is a Sess/Kag fic there won't be much romance between the two just yet. I'm trying to keep everyone as in character as possible (given the situation), and don't want to rush anything. They'll get to it, just not right this second.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

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Chapter Three:

When Kagome awoke she found herself in a very comfortable position. Someone was holding her closely with her head on their shoulder; she had been wrapped tightly in warm furs, and was that purring she heard? To say that she was confused would be putting it lightly, 'I really need to stop waking up like this,' she thought groggily as she opened her eyes to see exactly whose lap she had ended up in.

The first thing that met her eyes was bare flesh; a bare male chest to be exact. A lump suddenly formed in her throat. If the pain in her shoulder was any indication; the ordeal the day before had really happened and was not a dream. Which meant that unless Talia kept a young muscular male hidden somewhere, there was only one person that could be holding her right now. Slowly raising her eyes to see the face of the man holding her, she suddenly became ill at the sight that met her.

Two golden eyes were staring intently down at her, "Sesshoumaru," she whispered.

"You are awake," was his simple response. But there was something more. An emotion passed through his eyes. Was it relief? Kagome wasn't sure, but she knew that for there to be any emotion seen in his face at all there had to be something terribly wrong.

This wasn't right. Sesshoumaru shouldn't be holding her. His arm shouldn't have tightened around her at the very second that strange emotion passed through his features. He should be threatening to kill her, or at the very least have already left her behind in order to find a way back up the mountain and to Rin. This wasn't the same Sesshoumaru she knew, and while she vaguely remembered that he had amnesia she knew that the moment he remembered doing this he would kill her just to be rid of the embarrassment she presented.

"You are troubled," Sesshoumaru's voice broke through the girls turbulent thoughts, "Are you still in pain?" he asked. His eyes never left her face as he watched wave after wave of emotions wash over her face. Some he did not recognize, but he saw both pain and fear within the torrent of other emotions consuming her and it bothered him. She should not be afraid while near him. Perhaps she feared some sort of punishment for her perceived failings?

"You…" she began with a shaky voice, "You really don't remember anything do you?" she asked. Kagome knew that the real Sesshoumaru wouldn't have asked such a question, or have asked it with the soft and soothing tone that he had used. But she had to hear it; she had to make it real. Only then could she calm herself and begin to think of a way to get herself out of the situation she was currently in.

Sesshoumaru felt as if he had been set on fire. The rawness of her tone sent waves of nausea through him, and he did not know how to handle either feeling. He had only just woken up a few hours before with no memories, and had been convinced that this girl meant something to him. At first he could not believe it, but now he was convinced. There was no way that this small human female could cause such feelings of anguish in him from nothing more than the tone of her voice or the fear that currently resided in her eyes. He found himself wanting to say he remembered. He wanted to assure her that he remembered her, but he found himself unable to do so as lying was not something he could bring himself to do to her. Even if it was to ease her pain.

"No," was all he said. Shifting her body in his lap so that he could hold her closer to himself without hurting her injured shoulder, he buried his nose in her hair and allowed himself to take in her scent. She smelled of lilac and his chest swelled possessively as he picked up his own scent that clung to her as well, and with her scent he was also able to discern that she had not yet been touched by any male. Thus confirming that she was indeed his intended, and they had not yet become mates.

He tried to ignore the way in which she tensed as this action, "But it is not your fault," he finally finished in a small attempt to ease her mind.

Kagome could have laughed if she wasn't currently being embraced by the most deadly male in all of Japan. He was treating her as if she was something of importance to him, and actually attempting to comfort her. 'I really messed him up good,' she thought to herself. The entire situation was almost more than she could bear, and what made it worse was the fact that it actually felt good. It felt good to have someone care for her, even if it was someone that could currently be considered a mental patient.

It had been five years since she had fallen through the well and found herself thrown into a feudal fairy tale filled with demons and shikon shards. At one time she believed that part of that fairy tale was to have Inuyasha's love. But to have the hanyou love her was more than she could ask, and it had been nearly three years since she had given up.

She now viewed him as a possessive and over protective older brother, and all thoughts of romance with any male had been pushed aside to be dealt with after the quest was complete. This lack of companionship in Kagome's life at the age of twenty when most women her age had long been in at least one serious relationship left Kagome nearly starved for a companion, and Sesshoumaru's attentions were not going unnoticed.

But as much as she wanted to indulge in his attentions, she knew that she would be treading on dangerous grounds. The moment he remembered who he really was he would surely kill her for her treachery. The only thing to do was to find a way out of her current predicament, and then try to avoid him until she was able to find a way back to her friends.

"You don't know what you're talking about," she insisted, and began trying to wiggle out of his grasp. The rough and urgent movement sent pain shooting down the left side of her body, but she did her best to ignore it. Getting away was more important than worrying about her aches right now. The pain she would have to endure later if she didn't would be much worse.

The demon lord was not about to let her get away so easily. He quickly adjusted his hold with each of her movements, careful not to strain her injury any further than she already was herself. "I assure you I know what I speak Kagome," he managed to get out between her struggles, "It is not the female's duty to protect her male. The male is to be the one with strength. The fault is mine for falling to whatever is was that threatened us." With the end of his small speech the woman in his arms ceased her struggle, and turned her head to stare at him with shock.

"What did you say?" was all Kagome could manage.

His eyes captured hers in a smoldering stare, "As your intended it is my duty to protect you, and I am in my current condition due to my own failings. The fault does not lie with you," he offered gently as he moved his one hand to brush a few stray hairs from her face; slowly trailing one clawed finger over her delicate cheekbone before finally resting his hand back around her waist to keep her still.

"Sesshoumaru, let me go!" Kagome squeaked a little less fiercely than she had wanted it to sound, but it achieved the desired result. The demon lord reluctantly let her go, and she stumbled clumsily out of his lap. Averting her eyes away from the youkai in front of her, "I am not your intended," she insisted firmly. She was unable to look at him. She feared that if she did the gentle and sad look he was giving her would break her resolve, and she would give in to his fantasy that his troubled mind was creating. A companion in a world that he no longer knows.

"Then enlighten me as to why you were found in the forest with me, sobbing no less," he questioned. He was trying not to lose his patience with the woman. She seemed adamant to deny him for what he viewed to be ridiculous reasons, but he knew getting angry with her would only make the situation worse. He would play her game, and see what reasons she managed to give him for their situation.

Kagome was now at a loss for words. She knew she should tell him the truth, but she was afraid of what the truth would bring. He could kill her even without his memories out of anger for pushing him from a cliff, and putting him in this situation. But she couldn't have him believing there was anything between them. That would only cause problems for her later.

Keeping her eyes trained on the window on the other side of the room she simply said the first thing that came to mind, "I was crying because I thought you would die, and Rin would be left alone." It was the truth. That was the reason she had been crying. He simply didn't have to know how they got there.

"And who is this Rin?" he asked skeptically. He smelled no other on his clothing. While the material covering his chest had been removed during the old woman's medical assessment of his person, his hakama had remained on. The only scent on him had been the woman's in front of him. But while she would not look at him while she spoke, he sensed no deception in her words. Perhaps this Rin did exist.

"Your daughter," was her solemn reply. She hadn't meant to sound so down, but she was quickly becoming tired. The physical and emotional strain of her current situation was quickly draining what little energy she had left.

Sesshoumaru had not expected such an answer, and found himself once again beyond confused. The tone in which Kagome used was also unsettling. It was as if she were upset over the matter. If this Rin was indeed his daughter then there was a mother. Kagome had not been touched, and he smelled no other on his person. Perhaps he had dishonored his intended in some way in the past, and this final act of weakness had driven her away?

"Then what are you?" he asked, trying his best to keep the panic that was quickly rising from his stomach and making its way into his heart from showing in his tone.

Kagome searched her mind quickly for an answer. The last thing she needed to say was that she was his enemy, or his brother's companion. That would only stir up more questions which would lead her down the road to her own grave. "I am Rin's caretaker and teacher."

She was lying. The moment those last words fell from her lips he smelled the deception. He wanted to grab her again and force the truth from her, but he needed to know one more thing before he allowed this game to end. "Who and where is Rin's mother?" he asked carefully, ready to read her face for any reaction.

The girl only smiled sadly, "Rin's mother is dead, and I do not know who she was. Both of Rin's parents were killed by wolves," she said.

"So I am not her true sire," it was a statement, not a question. He was relieved that he had not dishonored her in such a way. At least now he knew he still held enough honor to continue to prove to Kagome that she did not need to hide behind lies. She had no need to run from him.

"No, you are not. You rescued her from death, and have cared for her ever since." Kagome said.

"And where is she now?"

"I don't know, but I am sure Jaken is taking care of her."

"And this Jaken is?"

"Another servant of yours."

Sesshoumaru shifted his position slightly, and continued to stare at Kagome. She had spoken no lies other than who she was to him, and she still would not look at him. "So you are my ward's caretaker, and the two of us somehow managed to become separated from both my ward and my servant," he said, recounting her story.

When she nodded he continued, "And you and I, after being separated, managed to find ourselves in a battle that resulted in the injury of both our bodies," she nodded again, "And we are finally found lying together by the old woman where you proceed to refuse treatment or food until my wellbeing was seen to?"

"That sounds about right," Kagome agreed, and finally turned back to look at him. He was still staring at her, but where his eyes had once held sadness they were now studying her; as if he was trying to discern the validity of her story. She had to admit that it was a stretch, but it was the closest to the truth she could get without risking her own death either now or later.

"I see," he said while bringing himself to stand, "Well then it seems we should focus on regaining my memories, and finding our way back to the others."

While he did not believe her entire tale in the least, he would make her believe that he did for the time being. He would have to take a different approach to win her back. He would have to start all over again. The demon lord knew that this would be a difficult task, as he did not have any prior knowledge of Kagome's past, or even her overall personality. He would have to learn everything about her all over again. 'I suppose I have all winter as the woman put it,' he thought as he turned to leave the room. "I believe I will go outside for a walk," he said finally and vanished through the door.

Kagome watched him leave, and when he was finally out of sight she let out an exhausted sigh. 'Well I managed to get him off my back,' she thought tiredly to herself. Her entire upper body was throbbing painfully from the stress of the ordeal, and she would have gladly given into sleep if her mind hadn't been racing a million miles a second.

She had just turned Sesshoumaru down. Granted it wasn't the real Sesshoumaru, but even without his memories he was still the most attractive male she had ever laid eyes on. Any other woman would have gladly accepted his attentions for as long as he would offer, and probably would have died happy when he did finally regain his memories and slice them to bits for taking advantage of him. Maybe she should have accepted him and just become his mate. It was really a win-win situation if you looked at it. She wouldn't die a virgin, and he would finally get to kill her after five years of trying. Kagome laughed bitterly to herself, 'I think my injuries have caught infection, I'm going insane,' she thought as she rolled over to a more comfortable position. "What if he never gets his memories back?" she whispered into the dark room, after all that was a possibility. She had heard of at least a few people that had suffered from amnesia that never remembered anything, and had to make whole new lives for themselves. What then? Would she go with Sesshoumaru, find Rin and Jaken, and then make up some lame excuse as to why she couldn't be Rin's caretaker anymore? The more she thought about her situation, the more she realized that she was screwed no matter what she did.

'Take the easy road and accept his attentions,' a little voice in her head insisted.

'It's not right to take advantage of him like that,' Kagome argued with the voice.

'So if he remembers you die, at least you got to experience someone love you,' the voice retorted, 'And if he doesn't remember the two of you can just live happily ever after. The perfect ending to this feudal fairy tale you've been living.'

'And what about the shards? Naraku? Inuyasha? How are we going to explain all that to him smarty pants?' She couldn't believe she was arguing with herself; she really was going insane. Of course the little voice had no answer to those questions, and remained silent. Kagome took the silence in her mind as a cue to finally get some sleep. Hopefully this time she wouldn't wake up in an overly clingy demon's lap, and would be allowed to sleep peacefully until this whole mess was over.

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Sesshoumaru waited quietly outside Kagome's window until her breathing evened out and he was sure she was sleeping. He had heard her whispered concern that he would never recover from his memory loss, and knew that it was that concern that had to be a part of the reason she was fighting him so hard. Her guilt, and the fear that she had lost the male she loved forever. He would prove to her that neither mattered as the situation was his own fault, and he was sure that if she loved his other self that she could love him as he was now as well. She simply had to be shown. If he had his way they would be mates before winter's end.

The dog demon let a frustrated sigh escape his lips as he gazed out into the darkness. His head still throbbed from his injuries, but that was not important right now. Morning was fast approaching, and he needed to hunt for Kagome's breakfast. She would need food if she were to heal, and he had to prove to her that he could still care for her. He knew that only having one arm was going to hinder that endeavor, but it looked as if it was an older injury and not related to his current situation at all. Surely he had learned to provide for her and his supposed ward with the handicap before, and he would do so again. He would have to remind himself to ask her what had happened to it later, but for now he would not think on it. All that was important was his mission.

Quietly he made his way into the forest of the valley to find a suitable meal for his Kagome.

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Inuyasha and the others were near their wits end. It had been nearly three days since they had last seen Kagome, and her trail had long since run dry. The snow kept falling, and with every snowflake that fell more and more of any evidence that Kagome had even existed was being hidden from both sight and scent.

The group had decided to return home until the snows stopped, and were now taking shelter from the cold in a village Inn not far from Kaede's village.

"I can't believe we're just abandoning Kagome like this!" Shippou cried for the hundredth time that day.

"Shut it runt, we're not abandoning her," Inuyasha snarled, "But we can't keep trudging through the snow like this with no idea whatsoever as to where she could be. Our best bet is to just go home and hope that she's already there when we get back."

"You know as well as anyone that she won't be there!" the kit argued, and buried his head in Kirara's fur. He had taken refuge on the fire cats back after being chased one too many times by Inuyasha for crying over the group's decision.

"Please Shippou calm down," Sango pleaded from her seat against the wall, "None of us are happy about leaving her behind, but what else are we to do? Any evidence of her whereabouts have been long since covered up by the snow, and its only coming down harder as time passes."

"She's right, our only course of action is to wait out the weather and resume our search when we are more likely to find her," Miroku agreed.

An eerie silence settled over the group at the monk's statement. No one knew how long the snows would last, or if they would even be able to resume the search for their missing friend before spring. They could only hope that she was safe wherever she was, and that she would survive the winter.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Author's Note: Thank you for the responses. Don't worry, you will see Kagura, Kohaku in this chapter... and you will see Naraku soon enough. I'm actually having a lot of fun with the character Talia, and I hope you guys are enjoying her as well.

Unfortunately this has gone slower than expected, and after struggling with the plot in an attempt to keep the story within my chaper limit... I've decided to just see how many chapters it takes to complete it. I just really don't want to rush anything. After all, you don't go from enemies to lovers overnight... right?

I'd also like to apologize for the formatting in the previous chapters... I've never been very good at getting these fiction websites to recognize the symbols I use to separate sections... but after some experimenting I think I may have it.

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Chapter Four:

Kagura tapped her fan on her shoulder in annoyance. It had been three days since that stupid human woman of Inuyasha's had thrown herself at the demon lord in the middle of battle, and successfully escaped the wind witch's trap. 

At first Kagura believed that she had won. After all they had fallen from the very top of the mountain, and it was very unlikely that either the human girl or the demon lord had survived such a fall. But the wind witch had to be sure. She called upon her feather and had made her way down into the valley in seach of the bodies of the pair in hopes of at least bringing back their corpses to her master as proof of her completed task. She was dissapointed however; when she found no trace of either Kagome or Sesshoumaru in the snow covered valley below. It was the damn snow's fault. It hadn't stopped coming down since the night they had kidnapped Inuyasha's wench, and had successfully covered any trace of the demon lord's escape.

This led her to her current predicament. She had been sitting at the only path leading from the valley for three days with only the lifeless twit of the boy demon exterminator as her companion. Kagura stared down the frozen over pass with a bored expression on her face. She knew they would have to come this way eventually. If they made it very far after escaping their fall anyway. She knew at least one of them had been injured from the blood that had covered Kohaku's weapon after his attack, and it was very possible that at least one of them was already dead from the injuries sustained from the fall. But the wind witch could not return to her master without any proof of her task completed. So she waited, and would do so until the snows ceased and the pass melted. One of them would come through here eventually, and she would be here to greet them when they did.

Kagura sighed as she watched the sun peak over the horizon signaling the start of the fourth day of this wretched mission.

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Talia hummed to herself quietly as she sewed. The snow was falling much harder now, and the temperature had dropped again greatly. She knew that the youkai would be able to withstand these harsh conditions easily even without clothing, but his human companion would not. At least not in the clothing she was currently wearing. It was for that reason that the old woman had dug into one of her many cabinets to retrieve the cloth needed to make clothing suitible enough to wear during the winter months for the young woman currently in her care. The old woman smiled softly. She was happy to have people to care for again after so many years of solitute. It had been many years since any of her children had last visited, and she knew that they were dead by now. Such was the fate of an old woman foolish enough in her youth to dabble in the dark arts. 

She had once been a Miko. A powerful Miko, but the life of such a being is riddled with lonliness and sorrow and she soon strayed from her path of purity to that of a normal woman. She married a handsome young man from a village not far from the valley, and they had four daughters and one son. Those were happy days, and the thought of her previous path had all but left her mind until one of her daughters decided to follow the path that Talia had long since abandoned. She knew, as all mothers do, that a time would come when her children would leave. And so they did, one by one, until only she and her husband remained. Sadly, even he left her eventually. So tortured by her lonliness, Talia once again called upon her holy powers. But this time it was not for pure intentions. No, she desired to revive her husband and regain the companionship she so longed for. It was not to be however; and the spell she used to attempt the revival backfired. It would not be until many years later until she realized exactly what she had done.

The years came and went. Her children came to visit less and less often until only her miko daughter traveled the path through the valley to see her mother. Talia knew that her daughter came mainly for the peace that the valley held, and not as much for her mother's companionship. Her child spent many years documenting various miko spells, herbal remedies, and accounts of her travels within the walls of her childhood home; many of which still remain hidden away in the various cabinets around the structure. 

It was when her daughter came for the last time that Talia finally realized what she had done in her foolishness so many years before. The woman that was her child approached her home on old and shaky legs, and the mother could sense nearly instantly the death that was beginning to sink into her daughter's aura. But this was not death from illness or injury, this was death from old age. Something that Talia should have suffered from many years before any of her children. It was then that she realized what she had done. In the attempt to revive her dead husband the spell had backfired onto herself, and had altered her own lifespan. She still aged and felt the pain of it more and more as the years went on, but her soul would not leave her body, her organs would not cease to function. She merely lived from day to day now in solitute, and had no concept of how old she was anymore.

It was her struggle through solitude, and her desire for companionship that compelled her to help the young couple that had somehow managed to end up injured within her valley. The young woman's sobs in reaction to the youkai's condition as they lay in the snow struck a cord in her heart that she could not ignore, and Talia was determined to help them find happiness. The woman Kagome was not being very cooperative however; her selfless and pure soul radiated from her body and it was for that reason the old woman knew that Kagome was distancing herself from the demon with no memory. Talia did not know the exact reasons of the girl, guilt perhaps? It did not matter. She could see the determination within the male's eyes as he exited the home several hours prior, and knew that he would not let her go without a fight. It was merely her job to provide him with whatever he needed to accomplish his task.

An almost girlish giggle escaped the old womans lips as the excitement of her task crept into her old bones. She would enjoy this winter more than any she had seen since her youth. Resuming her humming she looked over her work. The second of what she had planned to be four winter yukatas was now complete. She was by no means an expert tailor and the design was nothing more than a simple blue covering, but it would keep the girl warm. She had also been studying the woman's other garments; the pieces of fabric she wore under her clothing as well as the style of stockings the girl wore. It did not take long for the old woman to figure out that the garment on her chest had been much more functional than merely wrapping one's breasts, and the scrap below had been to protect her delicate feminine areas. She would try to recreate these pieces for the girl so that she may feel more comfortable in her stay, although she was sure that she would not be able to recreate the quality of what the girl already had. Mind determined the old woman began her task of recreating these undergarments, all the while humming the same happy tune to herself. She had completed the third chest covering when the demon male finally returned from wherever it was that he had been.

Sesshoumaru entered the home with a dead deer slung over his good shoulder. It had taken him quite some time to find it as most animals had migrated to higher and warmer areas before the snow had begun to fall, but he did finally manage to find this one and slay it. During this time of hunting, killing, and cleaning of the corpse the demon lord thought of nothing but of how he would win the affections of the human female that was currently asleep, and denying any relation to him other than his ward's instructor. 

Of course he would start by providing food for her, which will prove that despite his injuries he is still capable of providing for her. After that however; he was not sure of what to do. He understood from both his interaction with the old woman as well as Kagome's scent that they were not of the same species. He was demon of that he knew, but she was not. He understood that human's were physically weaker and shorter lived than that of his own kind, but he did not know how much different courting traditions were from that of his own. It was then that he realized that he did not even remember his own species traditions, but rather was going on instinct alone. He could only hope that these instincts would lead him in the correct direction, otherwise he may be doomed to failure. 

Sighing heavily the youkai forced his insecurities into the back of his mind for the time being. Right now he needed to prepare the meat for Kagome to eat, and began to do so by grabbing a wooden plate from beside the fire pit and placing strips of meat on it as he sliced them from the dead animal on the floor in front of him.

"I see your hunt was fruitful Sesshomaru," Talia's voice reached the demon's ears. He had been trying to ignore the annoying female, but it would seem that she refused to be forgotten. When he would not answer her, the old woman eyed the plate he had now set aside in favor of slicing the remainder of the corpse up into more manageable pieces so that it may be preserved for later use. "I'm sure she will enjoy your efforts," the old woman tried again to gain the youkai's attention to no avail. The old woman merely shook her head as he dissappeared out the door once again. He will learn to listen to her eventually.

Having finished his work with the corpse and disposing of the unusable remains far into the forest Sesshoumaru returned into the hut and retrieved the plate that he had prepared for Kagome, but before he was able to enter her room that annoying voice once again broke the silence, "What are you doing?" she asked.

The youkai looked at the old woman as if she had grown a second head, "I am bringing Kagome food so that she may be properly nourished," he responded as if Talia had just asked the stupidest question he had ever heard.

"And you expect her to eat it like that?" Talia replied with no hint of recognition of his tone.

"Why would she not eat the food that I have brought her?" Sesshoumaru was paying attention to her now. The woman was annoying, but if she believed that Kagome would not eat the nourishment that he offered her he wanted to know her reasoning.

"Because it is uncooked."

"What do you mean old woman?"

Talia sighed, "Here let me show you," she said as she stood and took the plate from a now growling demon. She knew that if he were a demon with memories that taking his intended's food from him would have probably resulted in her death, but in his current state she did not feel he would risk harming her. She was his only means of information when it came to Kagome after all. She moved over to the fire and placed the strips of meat one by one on a cooking plate over the fire, turning them as needed in order to make sure they properly cooked, "Human's require their meat cooked over a fire like this," she said while continuing to rotate the meat, "Otherwise they will become ill," she said as she looked over at the demon to gague his response. Her explanation had triggered the desired response as she saw what could only be a look of fear for the girl's wellbeing, but he only nodded as an indication of understanding. 

Sesshoumaru watched intently at the method used by the old woman to prepare the meat. He was quite displeased with himself for putting Kagome's wellbeing in danger over something as simple as food, and was determined to not repeat his mistake, "And all of her food must be prepared as such?" 

Talia's eyes softened, "No child, only meat. She may want other foods cooked, but that is only preference and not anything that will harm her." Deciding that the meat was now cooked through enough to eat, the old woman placed the meat on a fresh plate and handed it to Sesshoumaru along with a pair of chopsticks. At his questioning stare in the direction of the offered utensils Talia laughed, "She will know how to use them, and be careful to not let her handle the meat while it is 

still to hot. Otherwise she will burn herself."

Sesshoumaru only glared at the woman as he took the offered plate and sticks from her. He knew he should probably thank her, but her laughter at his expense was enough to make him decide against it. Quickly he turned and made his way into the room that he and Kagome now shared. The sun had already begun to rise and its rays were filtering in through the window, giving the room a soft glow. 

Quietly Sesshoumaru made his way over to Kagome's side and placed the plate on the floor as he sat. She was even more beautiful now than she had been last he saw her hours prior. The evidence of fatigue no longer marred her features, the dark circles that had once adorned her eyes now replaced with fresh pale skin. He could not help himself from tracing one clawed finger down the side of her cheek, ending at her chin and moving back up the side of her face to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She leaned into his touch as he did this, and the youkai could feel his heart constrict with pride that she had responded as such to his touch. This feeling did not last long however; as the scent of fear and sorrow suddenly began emenating from her still sleeping form.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered in her sleep as a single tear fell from her closed eyes, "Sesshoumaru."

Now his heart was constricting in an entirely different manner, and it was not one that he enjoyed. Even in her sleep her guilt haunted her, and he was beginning to fear that whatever it was that had caused this guilt may have affected her enough that he may never win her back.

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Kagome found herself at the boneater's well. She wasn't sure how she managed to get there, or why it seemed to be in the middle of the summer but right now she didn't care. All that mattered was that she wasn't stuck in a hut in the middle of winter with Sesshoumaru, and that she could go home. As quickly as she could manage, the girl from the future flung her legs over the side of the well and jumped in. But before she was able to hit the bottom a strong hand grabbed her arm and hauled her back out of the well.

"You will not leave me," came a very familiar voice. In fact she knew exactly who the voice belonged to, but she was too afraid to be right to turn around and confirm her fears. The hand that had been holding her by the arm now snaked its way around her waist in order to pull her against a very hard chest, "This Sesshoumaru will not allow you to leave."

Kagome wanted to scream. She was supposed to be going home. Not being embraced by Sesshoumaru and being ordered to stay. Allowing her anger to get the best of her Kagome began to struggle in his grasp so that she could turn around and give him a piece of her mind, but before she could get very far the scenery changed and the demon that had been holding her in a vice grip vanished. In his place, only a few steps away another figure appeared. It was her.

"You should accept his attentions," the copy of herself said in a bored tone. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips with one hip cocked to the side, and a very smug look was on her face, "He isn't going to give up you know, and you're stuck with him for the whole winter."

"Who are you, why do you look like me and where am I!" Kagome screamed at the dopliganger staring her down as if she were nothing more than an insect. It didn't seem to want to end. Every time she turned around her week was just getting worse and worse.

Her other self continued to stare at her the same as before, "I am you, and we are in your mind. You are sleeping."

"So I'm dreaming?"

"If that's what you want to call it, but that isn't what's important."

Kagome let out a frustrated sigh, "I need to wake up. Look, I have no intention of dying just so you can live some sort of fantasy life for a few months." She said to herself. The other her only shook her head before vanishing in the same manner in which she had appeared leaving Kagome in darkness. 

"Great, just great. I really need to wake up," she said as she turned around in the dark trying to figure out what to do next. The girl from the future was about to just give up and sit down to wait for her mind to decide to let her wake up when the scene changed again. She was standing in the snow looking over her own unconscious form, which was also laying on a very unconscious and bloody Sesshoumaru. Why was her mind torturing her so? She didn't understand why it wished to torture her with the guilt of causing this mess over and over again. She looked over Sesshoumaru's features as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry Sesshoumaru," she whispered.

----------------

Kagome woke to the feeling of a hand massaging her scalp lightly. Of course this couldn't be just any hand. It had to be a clawed hand, and Kagome knew exactly who it belonged to. Her other self from her dream was right. He wasn't going to give up, and she wasn't sure how to handle it without ending up dead in the process.

"You are awake," Sesshoumaru said quietly as he continued his minstrations through her hair. The act had seemed to calm her as she slept, and allowed her tears to stop.

'Well I guess there's no hiding from it,' Kagome thought to herself as she slowly cracked one eye open to look at the youkai next to her, "Good morning," she said. It probably wasn't the most intelligent thing she could have said the the lord of the West, but it was the first thing that came to mind and was probably better than trying to jump out of bed to yell at him about touching her.

"It is indeed a good morning," Sesshoumaru said before turning to the almost forgotten plate of food and offering it to her, "You must eat to regain your strength," he insisted.

Kagome looked at the offered food. It appeared to be meat of some kind, and she was more than thankful for it. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd last eaten, but from the pain in her stomach she knew it had been at least a few days. Carefully she raised herself into a sitting position, favoring her right arm so that she did not tear the now banaged wound in that shoulder. She took the offered plate of meat and chopsticks from the demon lord and began to eat the still warm food. She had been traveling in the feudal era long enough to know that the meat she was eating was that of a deer, and she didn't remember seeing a dead deer lying around the hut on her way outside the previous day. That of course only meant one thing; that Sesshoumaru had killed it and prepared it for her. "You did this?" she asked tentively, half not wanting to hear the answer she knew would come.

"I did," he replied, his expression unchanging, "Does it please you?" he asked.

The girl from the future continued to eat in silence. She knew that she should respond in some manner, but she knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to make her happy in order to convince her that she belonged to him, and the last thing she wanted to do was encourage him. But her manners wouldn't allow her to just eat and not at least give thanks for the food given to her, "It is good, thank you," she said as she brought the last piece of meat to her mouth while glancing at him through the corner of her eyes. Was he smiling? It was a small smile that barely turned the edges of his mouth upward, but she was sure that it was a smile. If she hadn't been convinced before that Sesshoumaru's mind had been impaired from the fall she was most certainly convinced now. The lord of the Western lands was smiling, and smiling at her.

Sesshoumaru had feared for a moment that she was not pleased by the food when she did not answer him right away, but when she finally thanked him for what he had offered her he could not help the small smile that crept upon his lips. Perhaps not all was lost, and he could still win her affections. He had managed to calm her tears as well as please her with the nourishment he provided for her. Yes, he would convince her that there was nothing to fear. He knew it would be slow, but he would win her back.

"Well it looks like you're doing well child," the old woman's voice was heard from the doorway. She had changed into a new yukata and held a bundle of something in her arms.

"Good morning Talia," Kagome chirped, "I haven't had the chance to thank you for your kindness, I'm not sure how I could ever repay you."

The old woman smiled, "Now dear there is no need for that. I am more than happy to help the two of you recover from your ordeal," she said as she moved further into the room and placed the bundle she had been carrying at the end of Kagome's make shift futon, "If the two of you will be staying with me through the winter you will need more than just torn green fabric to wear, so I made you a few winter yukatas. I also tried to make you several new undergarments and stockings, but I'm afraid they are not of the same quality of the ones that you already have."

Kagome smiled widely as she looked over the clothing that had been offered to her. There were four winter yukatas of blue, red, brown and white along with what looked like four bras, four pairs of underwear, and four pairs of stockings. They were indeed very simple in design, but Kagome was just grateful for the warm clothing and thoughtfullnes that went into making her new underwear. "They're wonderful Talia, thank you!"

Talia only nodded, "Now child let me change your bandages and get you changed," she said before turning to the youkai who had been sitting quietly to the side, 

"and you will need to leave while I do so."

Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat, "I will do no such thing," he said, but the look in Kagome's eyes at his statement caused him to reconsider. Bringing himself to his feet the demon lord moved to the opposite side of the room and reseated himself with his back to the two females, "I will remain, but I will not watch." While he desired nothing more than to care for his female himself, he knew that his current situation would not allow him to do so. Not until Kagome accepted him again at least.

The girl from the future fought the urge to giggle at the demon lord's behavior. 'I guess having him want to win me over has some advantages,' she thought. She hadn't missed the way he glaced her way hesitantly as he had declared that he would not leave, or the strange emotion that flashed through his golden orbs when she had sent him a glare that promised death if he didn't do as he was asked. He had gone from a growling dog to a compliant puppy in just a few seconds, and it was just too funny.

As soon as the youkai had taken his seat with his back to them Talia had begun her task of disrobing the young woman and removing the old bandages. To her surprise the wound had healed much faster than she had expected it to, and would most likely be fully healed within a day or two. The old woman had seen this sort of healing ability in only herself and that of her daughter, "You are miko child?" she asked, and when the young woman before her only nodded in response Talia continued her work without another word. 'A miko and a demon. What a curious couple,' she thought to herself as she tied off the fresh bandages and moved to the newly made undergarments in oder to assist Kagome in dressing.

---------------

By the end of the fourth day Inuyasha and his companions were only a few hours away from Kaede's village, and each member of the group were becoming more and more nervous. Each hoped that they would return home to find Kagome well and waiting for them, but deep down they all knew that it was nearly impossible for the young woman to have traveled the distance in this weather on her own. If she were not there when they arrived it would be the longest winter the group had ever faced.

---------------

It had now been a week since Kagome found herself trapped in a snow covered valley with the mighty lord of the West, and she was about to lose her own mind. While the demon lord had said nothing else to her regarding his supposed claim on her, he asserted the opinion just as well though his actions. Every night he slept against the wall only inches from her, during the day he followed her around like a lost puppy, and in all the time inbetween he made sure to do every little thing he could to make her happy. He even tried to converse with her; asking questions about their travels, and about Rin. So far she had been lucky enough that he had not asked how the two of them met, but she was sure that it would be asked eventually. Kagome wasn't sure how much more she could take of this nice Sesshoumaru, and on more than one occasion she came very close to just screaming in his face the entire truth. Surely death was better than having a love sick demon following her around day and night. 'But he doesn't love you,' she thought to herself, 'He only thinks he did before he lost his memory, and is trying to be honerable by accepting you back into his life.' Kagome wasn't sure why, but that thought depressed her. Perhaps it was her own desire for someone to love her.

'You enjoy his attentions,' her mind insisted.

'Oh god not you again, I thought you went away!' Kagome hissed at herself.

'I've been here the whole time, and you're falling right into his trap,' her mind laughed, 'Besides, I think he does love you in some way. Haven't you noticed the way his eyes sparkle when you talk to him?'

Kagome laughed out loud at that, 'You're just as mentally impaired as he is,' she said, but then sobered. She was just as impaired as he was. After all, what mentally stable human being argued with themselves on a regular basis? Something that she had begun to do nearly every moment she was left alone. 

It was maddening. The only reprieve she got from Sesshoumaru was when their food ran out and he had to go find more, which due to the current weather conditions took several hours for him to complete. Which was where he was now.

She took the time away from Sesshoumaru to think on her situation, and study the various scrolls Talia had given her to read on miko spells and herbal remedies. Some of which she knew, and many she did not. She was happy to have something to read and keep her mind occupied on something other than a certain overly clingy demon that would soon grace them with his presence.

Talia of course was not doing anything to help her cause. Of course Kagome was grateful for the reading material and the shelter for the winter, the old woman was doing more than necessary to try and help Sesshoumaru along. Even going as far as to try and convince Kagome that he did not blame her for their situation, and that she should stop resisting her 'mate.' It was after the second such conversation with the woman that the girl from the future realized that both the old woman and Sesshoumaru firmly believed that Kagome was trying to push the demon lord away out of guilt over the situation so that he may start over and find a stronger youkai female to be with, and upon this realization Kagome wanted to shake her two companions in an attempt to regain their sanity.

It wasn't that Kagome didn't enjoy the attention. In fact, on more than one occasion she found herself thinking fondly of the youkai lord in ways that she should not. She found herself remembering the feeling of his strong hold on her the first night they were here, and how her heart had fluttered ever so slightly at the declaration of his weakness. She found herself wondering how things would turn out if he never regained his memories, and thought of the possibility of simply accepting his attentions and living 'happily ever after' as her mind had put it once. But she knew that such thoughts were silly. She couldn't simply abandon her quest to gather the Shikon shards or to kill Naraku, and she knew that her friends would eventually find her come spring time. No, running away with a forever memory impaired demon was not an option. And of course there was the possibility that he would regain his memories; her fear no longer was of death, but of the rejection and heart break she would suffer when he did remember his past. If he didn't kill her he would certainly leave, and Kagome knew that she couldn't bear that kind of rejection should she allow herself to accept his attentions now.

It was with these thoughts that Sesshoumaru entered the hut. Under his one arm he held a large wooden bowl filled to the top with strips of deer meat. He had taken to this method of delivering food after discovering Kagome's reaction to one of the deer corpses he had brought into the hut. After seeing the animal's lifeless body, with its empty eyes staring back at her; the girl from the future had quickly turned and emptied her stomach of its contents. Sesshoumaru did not understand the reaction but assumed that in the past he had taken to dismembering their food before presenting it to her, and took the necessary steps to do so from that moment on.

Upon seeing his entry Talia moved over to him and attempted to take the bowl so that she may cook the meat as she had grown accustomed to doing over the past week, but when she grasped the side of the bowl in an attempt to remove it from his arm she was met with a low growl.

"I will prepare the food today woman," Sesshoumaru said coldly. He had allowed this annoying woman to care for his Kagome long enough, and he would begin caring for her properly himself by cooking her food for her. He moved quickly over to the fire and began mimiking the old woman's previous actions of preparing meat for them. The demon lord was pleased with the progress he was having with the young woman he thought of as his own. No longer did she refuse to look at him when they spoke, and the scent of fear and sorrow no longer permiated the air while she slept. She conversed with him as if they were old friends, and while that was not quite what he wanted, it was a start. Each conversation with Kagome left him desiring more and more from the woman, and he now knew how deeply he had cared for her before their current predicament. Not only did she hold beauty, but intelligence and kindness as well. She was selfless to a fault, and even though she fought hard to hide it, he could see the compassion in her eyes when she looked at him when she thought no one was paying attention. She truely was a remarkable female, and he was determined that he would have her as his before the end of winter. When he was finally satisfied that the meat had been cooked enough Sesshoumaru placed enough meat on a fresh plate for Kagome, and then offered it to the young woman.

Kagome was brought from her thoughts of the demon lord and her situation when the smell of food reached her nose. Startled, the girl from the future looked up to find the object of her musings staring at her intently with a plate of freshly cooked meat extended towards her. She hadn't even noticed him come in. Quickly, she sat herself up and took the offered food while giving a polite 'Thank you' as she did. As what had become a tradition in the past week Sesshoumaru only stared at her as she ate. It was as if he was making sure she would eat it all, or that he feared she would throw the food back at him and run away. Kagome sighed, all of this attention was doing a number on her stress levels. What she would give for a soak in a hot bath right now.

"Something troubles you?" came Sesshoumaru's deep voice through the young woman's thoughts.

Shaking her head lightly, "No, I was just wishing for a hot bath is all. It's been over a week since I've bathed and I think I'm starting to stink," she said while scrunching her nose up for emphasis. Of course she wasn't about to tell the demon in front of her that the need to be clean wasn't the only reason she wanted to bathe, and that he was stressing her out to the point of insanity. No, she didn't want to make her own situation worse as she knew that telling him that would only cause him to double his efforts rather than to discourage him.

"There is a hot spring behind the hut," Talia offered, "You are more than welcome to use it, and I have some herbs here that can be ground for cleansing." The old woman had taken to being silent the majority of the time that the girl and the demon were together, and only offered her opinions when she felt it absolutely 

necessary. She did not want to hinder their healing process by acting like a nagging mother constantly.

Sesshoumaru nodded, "Very well, I will accompany you to these springs."

"You will not!" Kagome screeched a bit louder than necessary, "My wounds are fully healed now and I don't need help bathing!" 

The demon lord cringed slightly at the pain in his ears from her response, "I will not physically assist you in cleaning yourself, and I will turn my back if it pleases you," he offered carefully, not wanting to have her scream again and harm his delicate ears further, "But I will not allow you to exit this home alone."

Throwing her arms in the air in defeat, "Fine!" she huffed as she stood to gather fresh clothing and something to dry herself with from the other room before grabbing the herbs Talia offered a little more forcefully than she had intended and storming out of the hut with the youkai lord following silently behind. By the time they reached the spring the woman from the future had successfully thought of at least a dozen ways to torture a certain demon lord, one of which having something to do with his own rosary and being sat into oblivion. Yes, she would enjoy that a lot. 

Turning, Kagome glared at said youkai, "You," she hissed while pointing one delicate finger in his direction, "Back to me, and no peaking!"

Sesshoumaru did as he was told, finding a comfortable seat on a nearby boulder not far from the spring. He had gathered fairly quickly in their time together since the accident that she was extremely modest when it came to her body. Something that he didn't quite understand considering her attire when they had first arrived, which had led him to believe that he was correct in assuming that much of her clothing had been ripped from her body during the battle and he did not in fact allow her to walk around in garments that showed portions of her body that only her mate should be permitted to see. Training his hearing in her direction he could hear her remove her clothing and sink slowly into the warm water, making small sighs and moans as she did so. How he wished she would make such noises in response to his touch, but he knew that now was not the time. 

"Why Sesshoumaru," Kagome's gentle voice was heard from the springs behind him after several minutes, "Why do you try so hard for something that was not meant to be?" She couldn't help it. Watching him follow her around over the past week, caring for her, and now his refusal to allow her to leave the hut unattended; it was getting to be a bit much for her to handle and she wasn't sure if she could handle it if he were to continue to act like this the entire winter.

"What is it that you assume is not meant to be?" was his reply.

"You and I," she said

"Why do you continue to insist that we are not meant to be?"

"Because we aren't."

"That is hardly an answer."

Kagome huffed and dunked her head under the water to wet it so that she may apply the cleaning herbs to her hair. Coming back up she thought over what she would say in response, "Look Sesshoumaru, I am human and you are youkai. Isn't that reason enough?" she asked.

"No."

"Why not!" 

"Because even through my lack of memory I am aware enough to know that mates are not chosen because of blood, but rather the compatability of two personalities and soul," the demon lord responded cooly, "And even without my memories of our past I am well aware of the effect your presence has on my own soul, and the enjoyment I find from your companionship."

Kagome had been about to rinse her hair of the herbal paste when he had said his last statement, and it had shocked her to the point of nearly drowning herself. Coming up from the water sputtering and coughing she could do little more than stare at the demon lord's back. He had just made two statements that went completely against everything the real youkai lord believed in. First he had declared that the blood she held did not matter, and second he had just told her that he loved her... in his own round about way of course.

"You would do well not to drown yourself Kagome if you do not wish for me to come in after you," Sesshoumaru said with a smirk. Aparently his statement had caught her off guard, "You seem suprised from my words, why?" he asked. He knew that she had been denying him for whatever reason she had for doing so, but he had not expected such genuine suprise from his words of comfort."

Kagome thought for a minute before answering as carefully as possible, "You haven't said anything like that to me before is all," she said, hoping that he would just drop the subject entirely and let her finish her bath in peace.

"Why wouldn't I say such things to you if they are true?" he asked.

She sighed, there was no getting around it now. She would have to tell him the truth about his real self in some form or another, "Because Sesshoumaru, to you blood means everything and you have not spared me or anyone else from being informed of that on a regular basis."

Sesshoumaru took a moment to gague her statement. He could not smell deciet from her as he had when she had declared her relationship to him having been nothing more than his ward's instructor. He knew from the feelings that washed through him while in her presence that she was indeed his match. He did not need memories to tell him that. Perhaps he had such opinions in their distant past, and she was merely using them as a means to distance herself further from him? Or perhaps he was indeed some sort of monster before the accident, and while keeping her around to sooth his soul, he mistreated her into believing that he did not care for her? But then why would she have acted as she did when his life was in danger? This female was making less and less sense as he thought on her, "Whatever I may have said to you in the past it no longer matters," he said. No, whatever it was he had done in the past no longer mattered. He knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was Kagome. His past be damned.

Kagome gave a frustrated grunt, "You are so going to kill me when you get your memories back," she huffed.

"I will do no such thing," the demon insisted.

"Yes you will," Kagome hissed, "You'll get your memories back, realize that I took advantage of you, and then take my head off for it!"

"Hn."

"Yeah,_Hn_," Kagome sighed before leaning back against a large rock on the side of the spring and closing her eyes. She hadn't meant to say all that she did, but she found that her shoulders felt lighter after getting her fears out in the open. Even if she couldn't get him to understand.

"Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked after several minutes of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Am I an honerable male?" 

'Where did that come from?' Kagome wondered to herself, and without opening her eyes answered, "Yes, you are an honerable person. In fact, you've always prided yourself on your honor."

"Then you have this Sesshoumaru's word that you will not be harmed when my memories return," he said. He would be lying if he said that her fears did not worry him, and he would trust that he had been an honerable youkai and would not go back on his word. Even if it had been given while his memory had been impaired.

Kagome snorted, "Thanks I guess," she said. This was going to be a very very long winter. She could only hope that their conversation here would convince him to back off a bit on trying to claim her.

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I'm not exactly happy with this... but after going so long without an update this is the best its going to get. Maybe I'll go back and revise it later on down the road. Hope you like it. 


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Author's Note: Thank you for everyone's responses so far. Don't worry; I haven't forgotten about Rin and Jaken... I just haven't gotten around to them yet. You'll see them soon.

I'd also like to apologize for my mistake in how Rin's parents died. Thank you for bringing it to my attention and it will be edited when I am able.

And sorry for the long wait… life hasn't been nice lately.

Chapter 5:

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The snow crunched audibly under Kagome's feet as she walked lazily through the valley's forest. It had been two weeks since she and Sesshoumaru found themselves stuck in the snow covered valley inhabited by the old women Talia, and in those two weeks Kagome had managed to find a friend in the last person she could have ever imagined. Yes, never before these last two weeks had Kagome ever thought it possible for anyone to call Sesshoumaru friend; especially not her. Glancing over at the demon that was quietly walking beside her Kagome smiled. No, he wasn't perfect and she knew that this side of him would all but vanish when his memories returned, but for now he was all she really had in the way of a companion. She hadn't reconsidered her position on the whole mate situation mind you, but she had relaxed a bit in regards to the force at which she had been trying to push him away.

After the brief exchange in the hot spring nearly a week ago Kagome had felt much lighter, and more relaxed around the demon lord. She had managed to express her fear of the reprucussions for getting too close to him, and he had given his word that she would not be harmed. She knew, memories or not, that Sesshoumaru would keep his word. This led them to their current arrangement. She no longer pushed him away to the point of complete denial, but kept him at arms length at all times. They held pleasant conversations about her family and school, and she would tell stories of various adventures of which Sesshoumaru had been a part of. Of course these stories were greatly edited. There was never a mention of him trying to kill her, the fact that they were enemies, and no mention of any of her friends that he may end up questioning her on such as Inuyasha. No, her stories focused on explaining their quest to kill Naraku and gathering the Shikon Shards and of what little she knew of Sesshoumaru's interaction with Rin. Each of which he always listened to with great interest.

The demon lord in turn, while having no memories to share with the young woman, would do his best to participate in the conversations through questioning the girl about her interests. He would often take the young woman on walks through the forest, much like the one they were on now, so that they could speak away from the prying ears of the old woman. Of course he would not have his Kagome running around in the snow with only stockings on. Instead he had fashioned her a pair of boots from the hide of one of the deer he had slain one night. They weren't the most fashionable shoes, but the thick leather did well to keep her feet dry and warm through their long walks.

While Sesshoumaru had not given up on his quest to win Kagome back, he had stopped pushing the fact. She had grown accustomed to his presence everywhere she went, and they had fallen into a routine of sorts when it came to eating, sleeping and bathing. He decided that it was best to slowly gain her trust as her friend first, and was content to simply speak to her and listen to her many stories or watch her study the Miko scrolls that Talia had provided for her.

In fact, watching her had become one of his favorite activities. It was during their first real conversation at the hot springs that Sesshoumaru discovered how useful simply watching her could be. He could decipher many things about the young woman that she herself would not say. Like her attraction to his person. He would often find her glancing in his direction; her cheeks stained a light pink with a faint hint of lust in her eyes. Much like he could see her doing right now from the corner of his eyes.

"Did you need something Kagome?" he asked nonchalantly, smirking slightly when her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink and she quickly looked away.

"No," was her only reply. While Kagome had been doing her best to keep the demon lord at bay, she couldn't help how his attentions made her feel. She felt wanted, appreciated, and maybe just a little bit loved. Of course she knew that none of it was real, but it was nice to make believe for a little while that he really was hers. These thoughts would usually result in a sideways glance in said demon's direction, which in turn would note that not only did her fantasy world involve being cared for and loved, but also cared for and loved by one of the most handsome beings she had ever encountered. Of course she'd never say such things out loud, or risk letting him find out where her mind would wander off to during the moments of silence they so often shared.

It would be an understatement to say that it was embarrassing that she had been caught this time, and was doing her best to pretend the incident had never occurred. She would have to control her wandering mind better or she was just going to make her situation worse.

They had stopped at the edge of one of the many large hot springs that could be found throughout the valley. This one was fed by a large waterfall that spilled from the side of the rock wall of one of the mountains that surrounded the valley. It was the largest and most beautiful of the springs they had come across, and Kagome made a point to come here as often as she was able to relax on one of the large rocks on its banks, or within its hot water. Today she was simply in the mood to relax. Taking a seat on her favorite boulder the girl from the future sighed.

"You know Sesshoumaru, as many times as we've been here in the past week I'm pretty sure I can get here on my own without your help," she said not looking in his direction.

Sesshoumaru studied the girl on the boulder a moment before answering, "While I am certain you could physically find your way here and back to the hut, I do not wish for you to find any stray youkai that may be looking for a meal."

Kagome glared at him, "I'm not completely defenseless you know."

"That I do not doubt, but I ask that you humor this Sesshoumaru in this matter."

Kagome sighed, "Yeah Yeah, whatever," she said while positioning herself so that she was lying on her back on the hard rock surface. Looking up through the trees the sky was a dark grey. It would most likely snow again soon, and they would have to go back to the hut for shelter. Looking over at Sesshoumaru standing calf deep in snow, she noted how well he blended in with it. In fact in this weather he almost looked like he was made of snow himself, which caused the image of Frosty the Snow Man with purple markings and yellow button eyes to appear in her mind causing her to giggle.

"Something amuses you?"

Kagome tried to suppress her amusement as she sat up again and turned herself to face the demon lord, "Sorry just looking at you with the snow all around reminded me of a snow man."

"A what?" Sesshoumaru asked, puzzled. He had no idea what this 'snow man' was, much less how she would be reminded of one simply because he was standing in snow.

"A snow man!" Kagome chirped. Jumping off her boulder she bent down and gathered some of the snow in her hands and started packing it together in the form of a ball. "You take snow and make a ball out of it like this see," she said, holding up the small ball of snow in her hands, "Then you pack more snow on top of it and make a bigger ball until you can't hold it anymore. When that happens you put it down in the snow and roll it so it gets bigger," she said while demonstrating by putting the larger ball of snow on the ground and rolling it around until it was half as big as she was, "You do this twice more and you have a snow man!"

This had to be the silliest thing Sesshoumaru had ever seen, but since all he could remember seeing had taken place in the past two weeks he decided that perhaps he could be wrong and could humor her. Slowly he bent down and gathered snow within his palm and began to follow her instructions. Though it was much more difficult with only one hand, he still managed to get it on the snow covered ground and begin to roll.

"That's big enough," the girl from the future stated when he got his ball to about half the size of the first.

"But it is not the same size as the one you demonstrated," the demon lord protested.

"It's not supposed to be." Kagome replied, "The one you just made will be the torso section, and I'll make the head!"

Five minutes later the two stood before a complete snow man. Unfortunately they didn't have buttons and a carrot to make the eyes nose and mouth, but they managed with a few small rocks and a stick.

"See, a snow man," Kagome said triumphantly, forgetting her previous decision to keep the demon lord at arms length and hugging his good arm happily.

Sesshoumaru tried to keep his composure and not pull the girl that was now touching his person closer to his body. Instead he studied the thing they had just made. He was now even more confused than he had been when she first mentioned it, "And this Sesshoumaru reminded you of this thing? I look nothing like that," he stated flatly.

Kagome giggled, "No I guess you don't look like it," she said, "But your hair is white like snow, and your skin isn't far off. So you both blend into the white landscape, which is why I was reminded."

"Hn"

"Yeah, Hn."

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Rin was sleeping peacefully curled up next to AhUn in Sesshoumaru's home. It had been two weeks since her ordeal with the wind witch and since she had seen her Sesshoumaru-sama, but no one was concerned. They knew their master would return when he wanted, and until that time they would wait. Jaken, who was sitting across a fire not far away, had been instructed long ago that should their lord ever leave for longer than a few days that he was to take Rin and AhUn back to their home until fetched.

The small toad demon may be loud in his objection to Rin's presence, but he would not disobey his lord. He would keep her safe until she died of old age, if that was how long it took for Sesshoumaru-sama to return. Demons were long lived, and Jaken valued his life. He did not wish to lose it by abandoning something that was just going to die naturally in fifty years or so.

With that thought weighing on his tiny brain, Jaken sighed and poked the fire absently. Life of a servant certainly was not a fun one, but at least he was alive.

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Night had fallen over the valley and the three companions were settling down for the night. Talia had made a stew from the remainder of Sesshoumaru's last hunt, and they had all eaten in comfortable silence; each lost within their own thoughts. Sesshoumaru was grateful for the old woman's silence, as his patience was already incredibly thin with the hag. He was even more delighted when she excused herself for bed early for the night.

Talia had sensed a change in the young couple the moment they stepped through her door that afternoon, and did not wish to spoil whatever it was with her words. She simply ate her meal and retired to her room early. Perhaps they would continue to reconcile throughout the night, or she could hope at least.

Kagome now sat in her futon reading another scroll of Talia's. This one she found particularly interesting as it was about a powder that could be made from various local herbs that could erase scents. One could erase a person's individual scent by grinding a small amount of their hair in with the mixture. The girl from the future was trying to commit this to memory as she was sure it would become useful in her travels once she was able to return to them.

She was so wrapped up in her study of the scroll that she didn't notice when Sesshoumaru sat down beside her and leaned in to look at what she was reading.

"What is it you are reading?" his low voice startled Kagome from her thoughts, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin and drop the scroll into her lap.

Placing a hand over her heart Kagome glared at the youkai next to her, "You scared me to death!" she admonished.

"My apologies, but you seemed to be studying this particular scroll harder than you have any other you have read thus far," Sesshoumaru apologized before picking the scroll from the young woman's lap to study it himself, "Scent masking?"

"Scent erasing," Kagome corrected, "I'm trying to commit it to memory so that we can use it later during our fight against Naraku," she explained while reaching over to take it from him.

"I see," Sesshoumaru said while pulling the scroll abruptly out of her reach, causing her to lose balance and fall over into the youkai lord's lap. The demon lord felt the weight of the young woman's torso fall into his lap, but he did his best to ignore it and pretend to continue studying the scroll. "Hn, this does look as if it could be quite useful. We should indeed commit it to memory for later use," he said, more as a means to distract himself from Kagome's struggles to get from his person than to say anything useful.

Kagome for her part was beyond mortified. All she wanted was the scroll back, and here she was face down in the demon lord's lap. At first she had tried to remain perfectly still in order to control the color seeping up her neck and onto her face, but after a minute or so she began to try to get up by bracing her arms on Sesshoumaru's thighs. Her efforts weren't getting her very far though; every time she thought she had her balance and started to push herself out of his lap he would shift and cause her to lose her balance again. She was sure he was doing it on purpose while pretending to not notice her too, and was increasingly becoming impatient with his act of indifference.

"Sesshoumaru," she ground out from clenched teeth, "Would you please stop moving and let me up?"

The demon lord placed the scroll down on the floor, and used his now free hand to grasp Kagome under one of her arms and help her up, "My apologies," he said with a smile on his lips and mirth in his eyes.

Kagome was stunned. Had Sesshoumaru been playing with her instead of trying to torture her? He was smiling; something the Sesshoumaru she knew never did. Of course she should have learned two weeks ago that this was not the demon lord she knew. Her anger melted at the genuine mirth that shown in his eyes and she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. "You're mean you know that!" she said as she playfully swatted his shoulder before moving to locate her forgotten scroll.

Sesshoumaru would not be so easily dismissed, and stopped the girl from her quest for her scroll by grasping her chin lightly and turning it towards him, "This Sesshoumaru promises that it was not his intention to be mean," he whispered; leaning closer to her as he said it. His lips only a few inches from hers.

Kagome blushed and tried to pull away, the look in his eyes with his close proximity was making her nervous. "It's…ok," she stammered, "You know I think I'll continue studying the scroll tomorrow, I'm tired right now," she said.

Releasing the woman in front of him Sesshoumaru pulled away pleased with her reaction, "It is late, retiring would be acceptable," he said before getting up from his place beside Kagome's futon and sitting back down against the wall a few feet away. It had become custom for him to sleep there as he had deemed his own futon too far away from his female. He bowed his head so that his eyes were hidden behind his bangs; making it easier for him to watch the woman without making her any more uncomfortable than he already sensed she was.

Slowly, Kagome crawled back to her futon on shaky limbs. Lying down the girl from the future sighed heavily. The memory of his heated stare so close to her face made her heart do laps in her chest. Had she not said something would he have tried to kiss her? She wasn't quite sure how she should be feeling right now after such a close encounter with the demon lord, but she was sure that the swelling of heart was not normal. With another shaky sigh the young woman willed herself into a dreamless sleep.

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Naraku watched Kagura and Kohaku through Kanna's mirror. He found it amusing that they truly believed that he would not know of their failure before they returned to his palace.

"Kanna, call them back here. I have more important things for them to do than wait around," Naraku ordered.

Kanna only nodded before vanishing from sight.

While his two servants may have failed in their original task, they were successful in removing the most important element of Inuyasha's band. Now that the Miko was gone they would be weak, and easily destroyed.

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She was shivering.

At some point in the night the fire in the main room died, and the temperature outside had dropped severely. Sesshoumaru was not affected by the changing temperatures, but he knew his human female was. Her shivering for warmth was evidence of that.

Quietly the youkai moved over to Kagome's side, and wrapped his arm under her body. She stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

"Sesshoumaru what are you doing!" she squealed; struggling violently in his grasp.

"Be still woman!" Sesshoumaru hissed back, "You were shivering in your sleep. I merely wished to bring you closer to my person for the warmth your human body requires."

Stilling in his grasp Kagome thought over his words, 'I was cold?' she thought, 'Of course I was, after all its not like he's some kind of rapist or anything.' Eyeing him for a moment she only nodded, 'It's just for warmth, there's nothing strange about this at all.' She thought to herself as he nodded in response as he pulled her back towards the wall and into his lap.

Tucking Kagome's head in the crook of his neck resting on his good arm Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, "Sleep now Kagome."

Not as long as the last one, but I already said to not expect terribly long chapters. Please read, rate and review.


	7. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for their reviews and support, and thank you to those who point out my mistakes

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for their reviews and support, and thank you to those who point out my mistakes. They are fixed as I am able. My fault for not having a beta I guess and doing all the editing myself.

I found many of the reviews to be amusing in the fact that some of the things suggested (not all and I won't say which) were already written up in my outline to happen a long time ago. You'll just have to find out which ones by reading.

Also, this is going to end up being slightly longer than I had anticipated. This is supposed to be an exercise in writing for me so that I may write my original fiction better.

Oh well I guess. On with the show!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

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Inuyasha glared across the field at Kagura. He had come to the well to clear his mind and think about Kagome, but Kagura had been waiting for him. "What the hell do you want Wind Bitch?" Inuyasha spat at the Naraku spawn as he reached for his sword.

Kagura smiled in what could have been considered sweet had it been on anyone elses' lips, but on the wind witch it was nothing less than sinister, "Why Inuyasha I was merely passing through and thought I'd check to see how you and your little friends were, there's nothing wrong is there?" She asked, putting a bit more emphasis on the word 'wrong' than Inuyasha wished to hear.

The hanyou was in no mood for Naraku's games today, and of course by this point he was almost positive that Naraku was behind Kagome's disappearance. "Where's Kagome wench? I know you're behind her being gone!" He yelled.

The wind witch didn't respond. Instead she lunged towards the hanyou, almost catching him off guard. Transforming his sword quickly he met her attack. They stood off, weapon against weapon, aura against aura. Kagura leaned in slightly, "Please put on a good show, I was sent here to exploit your weakness without the girl. But I do not wish to destroy my only chance at freedom." She whispered before allowing Inuyasha to push her back and into a tree.

"Damnit you bitch, where's Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he leaped towards the recovering woman, and grabbed her by her throat before she was able to fully stand. "Where is she?"

Kagura brought her hands frantically up to the fingers that were wrapped around her neck in a futile attempt to pull them away, "I don't know," she choked out, "I had been sent to kidnap her but she escaped."

"Feh," Inuyasha spat as he spun around and flung the wind witch across the field and into another tree, the snow in its branches knocking loose and falling over the woman's body.

He was relieved to hear that Kagome escaped, but was even more worried about where she was now. Had she escaped she surely would have found her way to Edo by now. He glared over at the still body across the field. He really should try to kill her, but he knew from previous encounters that without the heart that Naraku held that she would not completely die. It would be a waste of energy. With that he turned and walked back to Kaede's. The others would want to know what was going on.

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Kagome was studying a scroll, or trying to. Her mind was having a hard time concentrating on the task at hand as it kept wandering towards a certain demon lord. It had been nearly a month and a half since they had found themselves trapped in this snow covered valley, and Sesshoumaru still showed no signs of regaining his memory.

Of course this was both a good and bad thing for Kagome. It was good in the fact that for the past four weeks she had slept every night in his lap, and she had even taken to studying while seated in his lap during the day. It was bad because she had grown to genuinely enjoy his close proximity, and something akin to anxiety gripped her heart whenever he was away. She knew that she was losing the battle with herself in the whole ordeal, and was frightened by what it would bring later on down the road. After all, winter was almost halfway over and in another six weeks she would come face to face with the consequences of her actions. These were the thoughts plaguing the young woman's mind as Talia came in the room with another armload of scrolls.

"Here you are dear, I found another box in one of the cabinets in my room. I swear I didn't realize I had this many," the old woman said as she put the scrolls down on the floor next to the girl. Looking over Kagome's shoulder she noticed that the young girl was still reading the same scroll she had been for the past three hours, "Are you alright young one? You have been studying that scroll for quite some time."

Startled by the old woman's close proximity Kagome dropped the scroll in question in her lap, "Oh no Talia, this is just a very good spell and I would like to commit it to memory before Sesshoumaru and I have to leave," she replied, "And I'm hoping to convince him to let me try it on him later."

Talia chuckled, "Dear, do not worry about memorizing anything. I am old, and I did not even know I had half of these until you came. Take the ones you like with you. I have no use for them."

Turning to the old woman Kagome pulled her into an embrace, "Thank you Talia! There are a few of these that will be very useful to us in our mission!"

Patting Kagome on the back lightly the old woman chuckled once again, "Of course dear, now I should go back and start on the broth for the stew before your youkai comes back with our dinner," she said before standing up and making her way out of the room.

Letting out a sigh the girl from the future looked back down at the scroll she had been reading, or trying to for several hours. Or more specifically, the exact amount of time that Sesshoumaru had been gone. She had a hard time concentrating when he wasn't around, and it was annoying. Sighing again Kagome placed the scroll down to the side and apart from the others, she would be sure to ask Sesshoumaru to let her try it when he returned.

Grabbing another scroll she opened it and began to read. It only took her a few moments to realize what it was she was reading, and her eyes went wide at the information. This was exactly what she needed! Quickly Kagome stood and placed the scroll along with two others she had found to be useful in her futon. Sinking on her knees to the floor Kagome placed her forehead on the cold wood, and allowed the tears that she had been holding back to finally fall. That scroll would be her savior, and she no longer had to fight the Demon Lord or her growing feelings for him; as much anyway.

It was in this position that Sesshoumaru found her when he entered the room. Having just given the meat he had hunted to the old woman for the stew he had detected the scent of salt coming from their room and immediately went to find out what was troubling his female. He did not expect to find her on her knees with her head on the floor as she was, and immediately moved to pick her up from the floor and seat them both against their spot against the wall.

"What troubles you Kagome?" He asked quietly, bringing his hand under her chin so that she would look at him. What he saw in her eyes was completely unexpected. Happiness, relief, and perhaps love? He could not tell, but it certainly was not the sadness he expected.

"I found a way to fix things Sess," she said before turning to the side to find the first scroll she had been studying. She knew she was lying about why she was crying, but it was true that this first scroll contained a method of fixing one of their problems. It just wasn't the one she was crying over. "See, let me try it on you please," she pleaded.

Raising a delicate eyebrow at the scroll Sesshoumaru looked it over, "You wish to try this on this Sesshoumaru?" Seeing her nod in the positive he thought for a moment and then nodded himself, "Very well you may try, I trust that you will not purify my person."

Squealing happily Kagome threw her arms around his neck before placing a small kiss on his cheek, "I'll be right back. I need to get some supplies from Talia. For now just take off your shirt," she said as she jumped up and ran out of the room to get the necessary herbs from Talia's collection.

She returned a few minutes later with a bowl full of ground herbs. Sitting down beside the demon lord her faced scrunched in thought.

"Something is wrong?" Sesshoumaru asked. The girl was clearly lost as to what to do next.

Kagome sighed, "Well, I need some of your blood. But I don't know how to get it," she said, "I don't want to hurt you."

Without a thought the youkai in front of her brought one of his claws to his chest and sunk it deep in his flesh before pulling down in a straight line. The blood did not waste any time coming to the surface and spilling over his stomach.

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome cried as she moved to both collect the blood she needed and bandage the self inflicted wound.

"You have your blood."

Shaking her head the girl from the future glared at him, "Yea, and you scared me half to death too," she said as she mixed the herb and blood together into a paste. She then took the paste into her hand and spread it over Sesshoumaru's shoulder where the arm was missing until there was no part of the stump that wasn't covered, "There," she said as she put the bowl down. She picked back up the scroll and began changing the incantation while focusing her miko energy on the missing limb.

Slowly Sesshoumaru began to feel a tingle in the missing appendage, and his eyes went wide at the sight before him. Gradually a new arm was growing out of the paste and under his female's hands. A few more minutes passed before Kagome slumped to the floor in exhaustion. Sesshoumaru quickly gathered the girl up in his arms and held her to his chest. Two arms, he now had two arms. Sesshoumaru was in shock. He flexed the new arm in amazement. It felt exactly like his other one. Hugging Kagome again he kissed her on the top of her head, "Thank you," he said.

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Inuyasha and the group sat solemnly around the fire in Kaede's hut. The hanyou had explained his encounter with the wind witch to the group, and everyone was now lost in their own thoughts.

"Maybe Kagome took shelter in a village for the winter," Shippou suggested hopefully.

Sango nodded, "That certainly is a possibility," she said before turning to Inuyasha with a thoughtful expression on her face, "Inuyasha, have you seen Kikyo at all lately?" she asked.

"No, I haven't seen her since a few weeks before Kagome went missing," he said while shaking his head slowly. He knew why Sango was asking. She wanted to know if Kikyo had her complete soul back. If she did then they would know that Kagome was dead, "If I had, and she had her whole soul back I would have told you guys! I'm not that heartless you know," he yelled before storming out the door of the hut.

Inuyasha may not have been able to give his entire heart to Kagome, but he loved her none the less. He would never have kept such information to himself if he came across it, and if it had he probably would have gone into some kind of depression. "Feh," he huffed after situating himself on his favorite branch of the sacred tree, "Kagome's alive. I know it."

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When Kagome awoke she found herself in Sesshoumaru's arms; both arms. The spell had worked, and she was happy that she had been able to fix at least one of the things that she had messed up. Sighing contently she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You are awake."

"Yeah," Kagome said, "I'm happy the spell worked."

"This Sesshoumaru is thankful that it worked as well," he replied as he moved her in his lap so that she straddled his hips. Resting his forehead against hers he looked into her eyes, "Thank you," he said.

Kagome blushed, she had never been in this sort of position with a male and was increasingly becoming embarrassed, "You're welcome," was all she could say. She didn't trust her voice to try to say anything else.

Sesshoumaru's eyes roamed over her face for a moment before he brought a hand up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. Leaning in further the demon lord brushed the tip of his nose against hers, "This Sesshoumaru cannot wait any longer," he said before gently pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was soft and innocent. He took it no further than simple touching as he did not wish to push his luck any further than he already was. The feel of her soft lips on his was worth what little risk he took.

Kagome was in shock. She had never been kissed by someone before. Yes she had kissed Inuyasha, but it had been to save his life. Never had a male initiated such intimacy with her, and her head was swimming at the feelings that were going through her body. His lips were soft, which she hadn't expected from the stoic battle worn youkai. She was losing herself in his touch, but he pulled away before she lost her mind completely. When she opened her eyes all she could do was look at him.

His eyes held everything she had ever wanted: admiration, trust, and love. Lost in the emotions that overtook her body from seeing those eyes Kagome closed her own eyes and leaned forward to meet his lips a second time. She didn't know what else to do once they touched, but she was simply content with the feeling of his lips on her own.

It was Sesshoumaru's turn to be in shock. The little female that had been fighting him so hard for the past six weeks was now kissing him of her own will. Slowly he brought a hand to rest behind her head, and placing the other one the small of her back he held her closer to his body as he snaked his tongue out to tentatively trace her lips. Kagome gasped at the new sensation, and the demon lord took the opportunity to enter her mouth. He could sense her nervousness, and patiently guided their tongues in the age old dance of dominance. When they parted for the second time it was Sesshoumaru who spoke first.

"This Sesshoumaru has waited a long time for this," he said, running his fingers through her hair.

"I am sorry for making you wait," Kagome replied as she brought her own hand up to trace the magenta stripes on his cheeks, "Will you forgive me?"

Nodding slightly, "I would have waited an eternity," he said. Gathering Kagome's hands within his own Sesshoumaru looked intently into Kagome's eyes, "This Sesshoumaru would be forever in your debt if you would agree to become my mate."

Staring into his eyes for several minutes Kagome's mind was reeling. She knew the consequences of her actions should she say yes, but they suddenly didn't matter as much as long as she had the knowledge of that scroll she had hidden in her futon earlier. No matter what happened she would always have the memory of his love, of someone who cherished her. "Yes Sesshoumaru, I will be your mate," she said with tears in her eyes. She suddenly found herself pulled into a firm embrace, and had she been able to see his face she would have seen tears in his eyes as well.

"Sleep now mate," he said, "We will discuss everything once you are rested."

With that the demon lord ran his fingers through his female's hair and with the help of a soothing rumbling in his chest, lulled Kagome to sleep. All was well now. He had won back his female, and would return home in the spring with a mate. Where ever home was.

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There you go for chapter 6. Read, Rate and Review please.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi.

Author's Note: Again, thank you to everyone who left a review on any of the sites this story is posted (, , Single Spark and Dokuga).

I have decided that for right now this fic will continue to have an "R" rating on sites that allow that. Everywhere else it will maintain an "M" rating, but will not move up to "MA." If that makes any sense.

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Chapter 7:

Kagome sat by the window staring outside watching the snow fall from the trees in clumps as it melted. Another six weeks had passed, and winter was now nearly over. Sesshoumaru had left only a few minutes ago to check the mountain passes for their travel conditions, and would most likely return to tell her that they could now leave the valley.

Letting out a sigh the young woman moved her gaze from outside the window to her lap where a large bag made of deer hide rested. She had been packing her things all morning in anticipation for their upcoming departure. Inside the bag was her clothing that Talia had made for her, a cooking pot, some bowls, several scrolls that she had deemed important, a variety of herbs from Talia's collection, and three deer skin pouches filled with the scent erasing powder. Each pouch was marked with a different letter on its side, which signified whose scent it would erase. Kagome's, Sesshoumaru's, or all scents.

Allowing another sigh to escape her lips Kagome moved a hand up to her neck to stroke the silver scar that now resided there. Four weeks, she had only had four weeks with him as her mate and she wasn't sure if she was willing to give him up so soon. She almost found herself regretting taking another two weeks after she accepted the demon's proposal to gain the courage to lie with him.

'You knew it would come to this,' she scolded herself as her hand completely covered the mark, 'You knew and yet you continued, just to feel loved by someone. God you're pathetic.' Her hand was now squeezing her shoulder as she bowed her head to fight the tears that were threatening to fall. She knew she had to be careful with her emotions now as he could sense them, and she knew that she would probably be interrogated when he returned. Leaving the scent of tears in the room wouldn't help her case any if she were going to try and explain her feeling of sadness off as her merely thinking about missing Talia.

That thought made Kagome giggle slightly. Sesshoumaru would in no way miss Talia, or "That annoying old woman," as he put it. It was true that the old woman had a tendency to meddle in affairs that she had no business in, but it was also thanks to her that the young woman from the future had been able to find some small happiness; albeit short.

Resuming her previous task of making sure she had packed everything they might need on their trip home she began to hum a tune to herself. It was a lullaby her mother once sang to her as a child, and it had always served to comfort her when she was stressed.

"You change your moods quickly," a smooth voice came from the doorway.

Sesshoumaru had returned and was now leaning against the door frame watching her intently. He had sensed her distress only a few moments prior, and hastened his return only to find her happily humming to herself as she went through her new bag.

Tying the knot to her pack, Kagome stood and made her way over to the demon lord, "I do that sometimes when I get to thinking," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist, "Were you able to find a safe way out?"

Placing a hand on the small of her back, Sesshoumaru brought his other hand under her chin to pull her face to look at him, "Yes, a pass to the west is now clear of ice. We may leave now if you wish," he said before placing a kiss on his mate's forehead.

Truth be told the youkai did not wish to leave just yet. He still had no memory of his life before the valley, and he did not like the idea of going back to his old life without any knowledge of what that life had been. But from what Kagome had told him he knew there were many people waiting on them, and were probably very worried for their well being.

"Yes, we should go ahead and say our goodbyes to Talia and head out," Kagome said. Standing up on her tip toes she placed a light kiss on Sesshoumaru's cheek before turning away to grab her pack, "Let's go," she said as she slung it over her shoulder.

The couple made their way out of their room and into the main room where Talia sat poking at a small fire, "Time to go I see," she said without looking away from the flames in front of her.

Nodding slowly Kagome kneeled down by the old woman and pulled her into a tight embrace, "Thank you so much for all your help," she whispered before pulling away and moving to stand beside her mate again, "We will try to visit when we can."

Looking at the pair the old woman smiled, "I would very much like that child. The two of you have been my only visitors for a long time," she said. Standing slowly the old woman made her way to the young girl and the youkai; waving her hands in the air in front of her as to shoo them out of the hut. "Get along now you two, the day is only so long and you have a ways to go I'd wager."

The couple said their goodbyes before turning towards the direction of the path that would lead them out of the valley.

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"Inuyasha can't we stop for a few minutes?" Shippo whined from his perch on Kirara's back, "I'm hungry, and we haven't eaten since last night!"

"No way runt, the snow is melting and we can start looking for signs of Kagome again. I'm not gonna risk missing a clue to where she is because of your stomach," Inuyasha snapped.

The group was heading towards the spot where they had last been with Kagome in hopes of being able to find some trace of her now that there wasn't snow everywhere blocking scents and covering up tracks. Kikyo had made an appearance only a few hours ago and had confirmed that she still only possessed half a soul, which meant that Kagome was still alive.

"Don't worry Shippo, we'll stop soon to eat," Sango offered, "After all we're no good to Kagome without our strength should she need help. Right Inuyasha?"

"Feh," was all the response the hanyou would give.

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Kagome and Sesshoumaru had been traveling for two days, but it had only been within the past few hours that they had made any real progress. Without Sesshoumaru's memories the pair had to rely on Kagome's for any idea as to where they were, and since she had no idea at all they were more than just a little lost.

They were saved several hours ago by a traveling merchant that was able to tell them the direction they would need to travel in order to reach the Western boarder. Of course it had taken more than a little convincing to get any information out of the man as he was far more concerned with trying to run away from the youkai that had stepped in his path than giving any sort of helpful information.

Much to their relief they were not far from the border at all, and now after several hours of traveling were within the lands of the West.

"Sess, it's getting dark," Kagome said as she looked around nervously, "Can we stop for the night?"

Sesshoumaru only nodded as he steered them towards a small clearing next to a stream that would be suitable to sleep in for the night, "I will go hunt for dinner while you set up camp," he said. Kissing his mate softly, the demon lord stroked a thumb over his mark on her shoulder before turning into the forest.

Watching her mate leave Kagome let out a shaky breath as she began to make a fire. After filling the small pot that Talia had given her with water from the stream Kagome rummaged through her pack for the appropriate ingredients for what she would be doing tonight. She produced a small jar filled with various ground herbs and other things, 'Like Sesshoumaru's hair,' she thought as she reached for the scroll she would need.

Bringing the water to a boil the young woman from the future poured the contents of the jar into the pot and began to stir until the clearing was filled with a sweet smell that reminded her of some of the sweeter teas her mother used to make. This however would be the stew they would eat for dinner once Sesshoumaru came back with whatever it was he was hunting. Her stomach turned a little at the thought of eating some of his hair, but it was the only way she could think to get the mixture into her mate without him noticing.

The water had just reached a rolling boil once again when Sesshoumaru came into the clearing with neatly cut and cleaned meat wrapped in the skin of whatever it was he had killed. Taking the meat from him the young woman from the future cut the meat into smaller cubes before placing them into the stew to cook.

After a few minutes Kagome deemed the stew cooked enough to eat and dished out two bowls before making her way over to Sesshoumaru. Handing him one she seated herself next to him and began to eat, although without any utensils it was more like drinking. The two ate in silence as was custom for the pair, but once finished they began their nightly ritual of exchanging opinions and stories on various subjects.

At the end of a particularly exciting tale about her grandfather and her first day in junior high Kagome noticed Sesshoumaru's posture slumping slightly, "You look tired, was my story that boring?" she teased as she crawled into her mate's lap.

"Forgive me Kagome," the demon lord said as he positioned her in his lap so that her head rested on his shoulder, "It seems I am a bit tired, your story was more than entertaining."

"Hn," Kagome responded as she brought a hand to Sesshoumaru's cheek and pulled his face to hers. Slowly she brought their lips together in a soft yet demanding kiss; a demand that Sesshoumaru did not miss as he moved a hand behind her head to tangle his fingers in her hair and hold her tightly in place so that he could deepen the kiss.

When they parted Kagome looked up to see her mate's eyes nearly closed in exhaustion, and as much as she wished to take their kiss and turn it into something more, she knew that he would be sound asleep in a few seconds, "I love you," she whispered as she watched the last bit of recognition flicker in his eyes before he fell asleep completely. She stayed in his lap for only a few more moments before getting up and repacking her bags of the bowls and the pot she had used for dinner. She then reached into her pack and pulled out the small bag that was marked with a "K," signifying that it held the powder needed to erase any and all scent of her from anything it touched. Dusting the camp site thoroughly, the woman from the future then moved to the demon lord that still lay sleeping and covered him from head to toe with the dust.

Satisfied with her work Kagome picked up her pack and began walking in the direction she had come with Sesshoumaru earlier that day, releasing a trail of the dust behind her as she went. She didn't stop until she was convinced that she was well out of the Western lands, and when she did she crumpled into a sobbing heap on the forest floor. It was over. She had tasted happiness for a short time, and now it was over. She pulled the scroll from her pack and read it once more.

It was meant to be a mind healing mixture. When the appropriate herbs were mixed with a sample of the injured person's hair it could be ingested in order to heal a damaged mind. The only side effect being that any memories the person obtained while injured would be lost upon healing. She had righted the wrongs she had committed by this final act.

'You used him' Kagome's mind accused.

"But it's fixed now, he won't remember anything," the girl whispered to herself.

'Fixed? He will find out eventually you know. You mated him, and he feels every emotion you do. Do you really expect him to not know what's happening?' her mind hissed.

"I'll just gather the shards faster, and when the quest is over I'll go through the well and never come back. He never has to know!" Her tears were coming harder now as she lay on the forest floor in a fetal position; holding her hands over her ears in a futile attempt to block out the offending voice.

'So you'll just run away again then,' the voice in her mind said bitterly, 'Like you just did with that potion.'

"I healed him!" Kagome screamed into the night; pressing the palms of her hands harder against her ears, "Besides this is what you wanted! You were the one telling me to accept him!"

'I didn't expect you to go as far as to mate him, and I certainly didn't expect you to be such a coward once everything was over. You should have stayed and faced his wrath,' the voice said before vanishing completely from her head.

Kagome lay on the floor sobbing for several more minutes before she finally picked herself up off the ground and began searching for a place the bathe. She would have to wash herself and her clothing before using the scent erasing powder on herself to erase his scent from her body. She had been too lost in her sorrow to notice how long she had been walking before she came upon a hot springs, but by the sun that was barely rising over the horizon she assumed it had been at least a few hours.

Stripping her clothes from her body she stepped into the springs with cleansing herbs in hand. She took great care to wash her clothing and herself completely before redressing and pulling the pouch marked "S" from her pack and spreading the powder everywhere the demon had touched, taking special care to rub a good amount of the mixture on her mark. She knew she would have to be very careful to keep anyone from seeing the mark, but she also wanted to make sure no one could smell it either.

With her final task of erasing any evidence of what happened over the past few months the girl from the future lay herself on a large boulder by the springs and allowed herself to sleep. She would need what little strength she had to travel on her own to find her friends.

It was like this that her friends found her later that afternoon.


	9. Chapter 8

A/N Sorry for the very long delay in updating this fiction. Life decided to keep me from doing much other than well.... dealing with life... and while I know where this story is going I had a bit of writers block when it came to getting from where I am now to where I need to be in a chapter or two.

I'm going to apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes you will find as I've done my best to edit the story on my own. I should probably look for a beta...

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It had been three days since Inuyasha had found Kagome curled up in the middle of the forest. During those days the girl from the future remained in a fevered sleep, calling out at various points for an unseen person whose name no one could make out. Kaede had been doing her best to keep the girl comfortable and hydrated, but as the sun on the fourth day began to rise everyone in the small group began to fear the worst for their friend.

No one could find any clue as to where she had been or what she had experienced to end up in this state. At first they were simply happy to have found her alive, but as time went on the question of what had happened to their friend became louder within the silence of Kaede's hut.

Kaede sighed as she gently padded Kagome's forehead; the heat from the girl's fever seeping through the cool damp cloth in the old woman's hand. They would simply have to continue to be patient, and hope the gods would allow their friend to wake soon.

Deep within the darkness of Kagome's mind it was cold. She felt as if she had been running in circles for hours in the darkness with no end in sight. Falling to her knees in the darkness, the girl from the future held herself as she wept silently. She was alone. She was empty.

"Sesshoumaru," she whispered as the tears streaked her cheeks. Wrapping her arms tighter around herself the girl from the future cried for what she had lost. She thought she had been prepared for this. She thought she would be strong enough, but she had been wrong.

"You will cease your tears," a low voice from behind caused Kagome to lift her head in search of its owner.

A tall man stood in the darkness, his silver hair swaying despite the lack of any breeze. His features could not be seen, but the girl from the future knew exactly who he was.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked, "How did you get here?"

"That is not of any importance," the demon lord said, "You must wake up mate or I fear you will be lost." Despite his hidden features Kagome could hear the worry in his voice, and could imagine the look of concern that would be present in his eyes. Even with his memory loss his face rarely ever showed emotion; only by looking into his golden eyes could one see what he was feeling.

Sadly she shook her head, "I can't Sesshoumaru, not without you. I'm not strong enough." She knew that even her Sesshoumaru would look down upon her for admitting weakness, but she could not lie to him either.

"This Sesshoumaru did not choose a weak mate," the shadow youkai insisted, "You will cease this childish behavior and return to your wakeful state." Sesshoumaru's form shifted slightly as he pulled something from his clothing and held it out to the girl from the future, "You are not alone Kagome," he said as the object in his hand began to glow.

It was an orb of light, and yet it was not just any orb. Kagome would know that orb anywhere. It was her soul, and yet it wasn't the same as she had remembered it. This soul was complete. Her brow knitted together in confusion. Why would her soul be complete? Didn't Kikyo have half of it?

"Look closer Miko," her mate's voice broke through her confused thoughts. Doing as he instructed the girl from the future studied the orb for a moment. It looked the same as she remembered it only the color was a bit off. Within the pink orb swirled something green and it seemed as if it was that green substance that helped to complete the sphere. "You are not alone," Sesshoumaru said again.

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She wasn't alone. Even if he didn't remember her they were still mates, and even though she didn't realize it when she'd done it, when they mated their souls joined. He was now forever a part of her and she him. The demon standing in front of her wasn't just a shadow of her memories, but was the part of her mate's soul that had been given to her. He was protecting her now as he had sworn he would do forever, and Kagome now realized that even without his memories in the physical world he would still be with her to protect her. Even from herself.

Standing Kagome faced the shadow of her mate, "Thank you," she whispered as she let one more tear slip down her cheek, "I think I can do it now, knowing you're here." Sesshoumaru said nothing more and she smiled, of course he wouldn't say anything else as he was waiting for her to wake up and speaking would only delay that. Taking a deep breath the girl from the future closed her eyes within her mind, willing her body to wake up and face the world.

"Sango look!" Shippo cried, "Her eyes just moved!"

"Not so loud!" Kagome hissed as she brought her hand up to shield her waking eyes from the harsh light. She felt like she'd been hit by a bus. Gaining the courage to open her eyes the girl from the future was met with six very concerned faces staring at her. "How did I get here?" she asked, looking around the room in confusion. She should be in the middle of the woods somewhere. Not in Kaede's hut safe and sound with all her friends staring at her like she'd nearly died or something.

"We thought you'd never wake up!" the fox kit cried as he crawled carefully into the young miko's lap. He wanted nothing more than to launch himself into her arms and cry for the months he and the others had spent without her, but he knew that right now his mother figure needed him to act more grown up than he really was.

"We found you near a spring in the middle of the forest Kagome," Sango answered her friend's question before asking a question of her own, "but what we can't figure out is how you got out there in the first place." The girl from the future heard the question echoed within the room, and wasn't sure exactly what she should say. She certainly wouldn't tell them that she had spent the entire winter with Inuyasha's brother. No, once again she would tell half truths in order to protect herself.

"Kagura kidnapped me," she began and immediately saw the reaction in each of her friend's faces. Each wore expressions in different degrees of hurt, sorrow, worry, and guilt with the exception of Inuyasha who simply looked angry. She went on to explain that when she awoke she attempted to escape, which didn't turn out at all as she had planned. She managed to fall down a slick slope into the valley, and ended up spending the winter with an old hermit. Her friend's seemed more relaxed by the end of her tale, and when they mentioned returning to the old hermit to thank them for taking care of their friend the girl from the future avoided the subject by stating that she wasn't exactly sure where the valley was anymore.

Pacified by their friend's tale the group decided that they should start out again on the hunt for the jewel shards as there weren't many left to be found and the final confrontation with Naraku was sure to take place soon. They would leave in the morning, and all Kagome could think about was the possibility of running across her mate who would no longer remember who she was to him other than the enemy.

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Sesshoumaru stood on the edge of the clearing in which he and his small pack had made camp for the night. It had been three days since he had awoken at the base of a tree alone with no memory of what had transpired between his fight with the wind witch Kagura and his current condition. Jaken had soon found him squawking about his loyalty to his lord, and how he followed his instructions to take Rin home should he disappear for any length of time. The youkai lord merely ignored the questions that followed and began his task of patrolling his lands as if nothing had transpired at all.

Of course there were many questions that bothered him aside from the missing time. Like how did he manage his new arm? And why did he feel as if there was a hole in his chest, and yet he felt more complete than he ever had in his long life? Such feelings should not be possible, and his arm should have taken another century or two to heal naturally. Surely some sort of sorcery had been involved in both accounts, and yet he could detect none. These mysteries were what the lord mulled over every evening while his ward and servant slept during the night, and each night he found himself no closer to the answers than he had been the night before. His last thought before allowing sleep to overcome him was how much faster the hanyou Naraku would die with his newly returned arm.

He knew he was dreaming as it was the only explanation as to how he had ended up in his brother's forest sitting on the lip of an old dry well. He was not entirely sure as to why his subconscious would bring him to this particular place, but few dreams made much sense anyway. The trees along the edge of the clearing swayed with the passing breeze, and with it came the scent of someone approaching.

A woman with raven hair and blue eyes emerged from the trees. She wore a crudely made yukata with even more crudely made leather boots. Both articles of clothing were designed for colder weather than the warm sunny day that was around them, but the female did not seem to notice as she nearly skipped towards him with a bag slung over her back. As she came closer he realized that he could not make out any real features of her face other than the raven hair that framed it and the large blue orbs that were her eyes. Who was this female?

"Sesshou!" the thing called, waving her right hand in the air in greeting, "I knew you'd be here to see me off."

"I assure you human that I am not here to see the likes of you," he heard himself say as the human female came to a stop mere inches from his person, "and I would advise you to keep your distance lest you wish to lose your head," he added for good measure. The demon lord watched as the female's blue eyes dulled ever so slightly in what he could only assume to be disappointment. He inwardly congratulated himself for his words having the desired effect. After all, no one spoke to him as she did.

"Oh Sesshou," she huffed, "I know you're still angry with me for not being in bed when you woke up this morning, but I really wanted to talk to Sango a bit before I headed home today," she finished as she casually draped her arms around his neck.

Who did this female think she was? Not being in bed when he woke up? Clearly she was insane. Grabbing the woman by her neck he easily hoisted her body into the air and held her over the dry well, "I do not repeat myself," he stated as he squeezed his hands the slightest bit around her neck so that his poison claws would break skin, "You will keep your distance from this Sesshoumaru." Then he watched with cold eyes as the female fell into the abyss that was the dry well.

Sesshoumaru jerked awake as pain ripped through his chest. It was so sharp and intense that the youkai lord truly believed for a moment that someone had managed to attack him in his sleep, but soon realized that there were no scents of anyone other than his group in the clearing and his body was fully in tact. For the first time in a very long time the demon lord allowed a heavy sigh of frustration to leave his normally silent and stoic lips. He would discover the source of the strange events that continued to plague him. It would only take time and patience; both of which he had in abundance.

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Kagome was tired. The horrible nightmares that had presented themselves over the past few nights had left the girl from the future feeling as if she might fall over at any moment as she struggled to keep up with the group. Her mind had decided that it would be a good idea to show her how many different ways Sesshoumaru could, and would, kill her once he realized what she had done to him. The nightmares ranged from being decapitated, disemboweled, and quartered, to him injecting his poison in her neck before throwing her down the well to die a slow and painful death. The last one had been the most vivid and frightening. She could still feel his hands clench around her neck, and was sure that there should be bruises there even though she knew there were not. Someone would have said something by now if there were, wouldn't they?

Her only consolation was the fact that they had found three more shards of the jewel over the past few days, and the group was now convinced that Naraku held the remaining pieces. The search had gone from shard hunting to evil hanyou hunting this morning, which now had them trudging down the road towards an area where Naraku had been rumored to be seen only yesterday. Of course rumors were rarely true. One could only hope they were at least heading in the correct general direction.

The answer to that question came to the group in a shrill cry that sounded eerily like Sesshoumaru's ward, Rin, not too far ahead.

The tachi hurried their pace towards the cry and soon what they feared came into view. Rin had indeed been the source of the cry, and her lord was not far off battling with the evil hanyou they had been searching for all day. The little girl was laying on the ground with the wind witch Kagura standing over her still form as blood seeped from her small body into the ground.

"Rin!" Kagome cried as she pushed past her group in order to reach the little girl's side.

"Fuck Kagome, Kagura is over there!" Inuyasha yelled as he raced after her, pulling his sword from its sheath, "Grab the kid while I hold the bitch off!"

Of course Kagome hadn't been listening. Her only thought had been to save her mate's ward, and was completely oblivious to the fighting taking place only a few feet from her as she cradled the little girl to her body. She hoped the pressure would keep Rin from bleeding out before she managed to get her a safe distance away from the fight.

Setting the girl down again far enough away from the fight that the only thing she could see of her friends was a blur of various colors as they jumped, ducked and dodged attacks from both Naraku and Kagura and returned with attacks of their own. She knew they would be fine and that they understood that she was needed here with Rin instead of on the battlefield where she would only get in the way.

Quickly the girl from the future pulled the little girl's clothing away from the source of the blood to find a large gash just under her ribs. Fresh blood still oozed from the wound, and Kagome could see the girl's skin had begun to turn a very pale color. She couldn't waste any time; she knew Rin's life would depend on her acting quickly to stop the bleeding. Applying pressure on the wound once more she turned her pack upside down on the forest floor to retrieve her first aid kit.

She didn't know how much time passed, and she almost didn't notice it when the sounds of battle stopped. She didn't notice her friends standing behind her, nor did she hear the growling of an angry demon lord. It wasn't until said demon lord decided to grab Kagome by the neck and slam her body into a nearby tree that she was pulled from the now peacefully sleeping girl at her side.

"Put Kagome down you bastard!" Inuyasha yelled as he pulled his sword back from its sheath in preparation for another fight.

"It's ok Inuyasha," Kagome managed to choke out as she faced the very angry eyes of her mate. This was not how she had wanted to see him again at all.

"You will tell me what you have done to my ward," Sesshoumaru ordered the human in front of him, squeezing her neck slightly for emphasis before letting go enough for her to speak.

"Kagura hurt her Sesshoumaru," Kagome answered as clearly as one could while being suspended in mid air by their neck, "I only tended to her wounds and did what I could to save her life." She watched as the youkai's eye's surveyed her for a moment for any sign of deceit before she felt gravity pull her body to the ground harshly; leaving her legs sore from the impact.

It only took a moment for her to realize where the demon lord had gone, and quickly moved to her feet. "I wouldn't advise taking her right now Sesshoumaru."

"And why do you think that this Sesshoumaru would listen to a human woman?" the demon lord asked without turning to face the onna that now challenged him.

"Because it is the medicine from my home that keeps her alive right now, and I'm going to have to redress her wounds several times a day so they don't catch infection," Kagome shot back, not caring if the demon in front of her took her head off for her tone. She knew she was right, and she knew that he cared enough for Rin to allow her to heal the girl to the best of her ability.

Sesshoumaru said nothing for several minutes as he stared down at his ward that now lay peacefully sleeping on the ground with Kagome's sleeping bag wrapped around her small form, "Very well," he said finally, "Rin and I will remain with your pack until she is healed enough to travel without your attentions."


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: Not quite as long of a wait since the last update this time! I'm going to ask everyone to bear with me for the next chapter or so. The story will take a bit of an angsty tone to it next chapter with some dark topics, and we will see some of that M rating come out in the form of some language as well as some blood.

As I've said before this is only something I'm dabbling with so you're not going to see incredibly long chapters. I'm also still editing my own work so I apologize in advance if I missed anything.

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The sound of Kagome's alarm clock pierced through the morning air causing the young woman to groan in her sleep as she instinctively rolled over to stop the offending noise. In an attempt to hit the snooze button she managed to swing her arm too far landing her face first onto the hard floor.

"Urgh, I'm never going to catch a break am I," she groaned as she looked at the clock that had been set to go off at six in the morning. Why had she wanted to get up this early for kami's sake? Unraveling herself from her knot of blankets on the floor she felt for her still screaming alarm clock. Finding the right button she silenced it and sighed, there was no use in going back to bed now. She knew she had to get back to the feudal era soon anyway, Rin was waiting on her.

Of course, the little girl had been the reason for the alarm's set time! Kagome mentally scolded herself for her careless behavior. She shouldn't have decided to take a nap to begin with, even if it had only been three hours. Even though it had been nearly a week since the incident the little girl's health was still very fragile.

Kagome had returned home the night before to restock her medical supplies for Rin's continued care and had decided that a quick nap in her own bed couldn't do any harm. Of course it probably didn't, and the pharmacy wouldn't be open until eight, but that didn't stop the young woman from feeling selfish. Kagome let out another sigh as she picked herself up and headed to the bathroom with her backpack for her normal morning ritual that consisted of doing everything she could to hide any evidence that she was any different than she had been before being kidnapped by Kagura.

Padding quietly into the family bathroom as to not wake anyone else up the girl from the future set her yellow backpack on the cold tile before undressing.

"At least I get to do this in the privacy of my own home instead of ducking around bushes every morning," she mumbled. The past week hadn't been easy for her as she juggled tending to the injured Rin, her friend's behavior towards having Sesshoumaru so close, and Sesshoumaru himself staring her down as if she were the most disgusting thing on the planet. And in the middle of all that she found herself ducking behind bushes or to a nearby spring to reapply makeup and scent powder to her neck, or worrying about the collar of her shirt exposing too much of her throat.

Her stomach turned at the memory, and she quickly found herself on her knees emptying it of its contents. That had been another constant over the last week. The constant stress often caused her to lose whatever was in her stomach at the time, and it always decided to happen at the most inopportune moments.

Kagome placed her forehead on the bottom of the tub and groaned, "I just have to get Rin well again," she assured herself, "Then he'll take her and go home, or where ever it is he goes when he's not hunting Naraku or bothering Inuyasha." The water from the shower was now running down her face causing the soap that was still in her hair to run dangerously close to her eyes, but she found it hard to care as another bout of nausea hit her. She closed her eyes tightly against it and forced herself to stand so that she could rinse the remaining soap from her hair. Rin was waiting on her, and she had to get to the pharmacy for more supplies before she could go back.

Toweling herself dry the young woman quickly applied the appropriate amount of scent powder and makeup to her neck before getting dressed. Feeling the weight of the container as she placed it back in her bag Kgaome sighed, she would have to make more powder soon. She'd collected enough of Sesshoumaru's hair before they set out that she would be able to make enough powder for a year or so, but after that she wasn't quite sure what she was going to do. Hopefully by then their quest would be complete and she would be safely back on her side of the well. She didn't want to leave all of her friends behind of course, but she accepted long ago that once her quest was complete she would no longer be allowed to stay on that side of the well.

"Now's not the time to think of things like that," she scolded herself, "it's time to head to the pharmacy and get back to Rin." Running down the stairs she grabbed her purse before heading out the door and making her way into the city. The pharmacy would just be opening when she arrived, and she hoped it wouldn't be very crowded.

Just as she'd hoped there was only one other customer in the building as she was roaming up and down the aisles, stuffing various medical supplies into her basket. In addition to medical supplies such as bandages and peroxide, she added a bag of gummy worms and two oversized suckers for Shippou and Rin. When she finally got to the counter another woman was waiting to be checked out in front of her.

"Are these the only brands you have?" She heard the woman say in a somewhat hushed tone, "I've heard these are good, but I'd like to buy several brands to make sure."

"Of course not ma'm, we have several different brands," the sales clerk replied, "Here, let me show you. This way please," he finished as he led the woman to the back of the store.

In waiting for the woman in front of her to finish checking out she didn't hear another clerk offer to help her, and was extremely embarrassed when he was forced to clear his throat rather loudly to get her attention.

"Oh, sorry," she stammered as she piled her purchases on the counter to pay. The clerk only smiled as he rang up the supplies and bagged them up. After she paid he happily wished her a good day to which she nodded and rushed out the door. She had wanted to be back in the feudal era by ten, and she only had thirty minutes to shove everything in her pack and jump through the well. She only hoped that Rin was ok.

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Sesshoumaru sat beneath a large tree on the edge of Inuyasha's forest. Rin was being kept inside the old Miko's hut, but he felt no need to be that close to his half brother or his troublesome companions. His brother's wench especially. During the week he had been subjected to tolerating the onna for Rin's sake he'd fought the urge to either slice her throat open or throw her into the nearest tree. He was not sure why her mere presence irritated him as much as it did, even more so than his brother's on occasion, but it did and he would be more than happy when Rin was healed so he could leave.

Perhaps he was merely overly tired. Youkai did not require much sleep, but the little sleep he had attempted proved to be useless with the presence of the same dreams he had been experiencing for nearly two weeks. The phantom female seemed to appear in every corner of his mind, always smiling, always attempting to touch him. In her most recent appearance she had even been as bold as to attempt to remove his clothing! He had yet to see her face but he knew she was human, and he would never sully himself so much as to allow any human female to touch him as such.

Now that he thought on it, perhaps there was the problem. The female that appeared in his dreams acted very much the same as his brother's female. It would only be logical that he would find the real one even more aggravating that she already was because of the phantom one.

The demon lord was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone coming up the road from the direction of the old well. It was the very female he had been trying to avoid. He was convinced that a Kami somewhere hated him. It was the only explanation for his life as of late. Perhaps if he pretended he did not see her she would simply walk past him. If only he were that lucky.

"Oh hi Sesshoumaru," Kagome waved towards the demon lord as she approached, "You'll be happy to hear that Rin is doing much better, and should be ready to leave in a few days!" She looked at him for any sign that he had heard her and was rewarded with only the slightest of nods. Sighing, Kagome only smiled and turned towards the village. She didn't know why she had hoped for anymore than a small nod, heck, she shouldn't have even expected that much from him. She just missed her Sesshoumaru so much.

When Kagome entered Kaede's hut she found the old woman bent over a pot of stew with Rin sitting up against the far wall.

"How are you feeling today Rin?" Kagome asked as she sat her pack down to kneel in front of the small girl.

"I'm feeling much better today Kagome-chan," the little girl chirped, "I even walked outside without any help to relieve myself this morning!"

"That's wonderful Rin!" the girl from the future said as she opened her pack to retrieve fresh bandages, "now let's redress those wounds. You should be ready to return to Sesshoumaru in a day or so." As always the task of dressing the little girl's wounds went without any complaints, and Kagome soon found Rin sleeping soundly. She may be healing, but she still tired quickly.

"Kagome you're back!" came Sango's voice as she entered the hut with Miroku, Inuyasha, Kirara and Shippou.

"Hey guys!" Kagome waved to her friends, "I said I'd only be gone just long enough to pick up more medical supplies."

Sango only nodded, "You're right you did," she said absently before seemingly remembering something and focusing back on her friend, "Hey Kagome I was just about to take a bath, would you like to join me?"

The girl from the future eyed her friend suspiciously. Normally she would decline and Sango would bathe alone on mornings after she'd returned from her time as she had already bathed, but today she would at least sit with her friend. It seemed like she needed it. "Of course Sango," she replied as she shouldered her pack and followed her friend outside.

The trip to the springs was a quiet affair, which only served to fuel the young woman's suspicions further that something was indeed wrong with the demon slayer. Setting her pack down on a large boulder next to the hot springs, Kagome began to dig through her pack for her bathing supplies for her friend.

"I already took a shower this morning, but I thought I'd keep you company at least," she said as she dug through the mass of medical supplies to find her shampoo that had been shoved at the bottom. She cringed slightly as she felt several contents fall from her pack and land on her foot, "Oww, " she hissed.

"Hey Kagome, what's that?" Sango asked, "I don't think I've seen that in your supplies before."

The girl from the future looked down in the direction that her friend was pointing only to gasp at what was there. Lying on the ground was a bright pink package labeled 'First Response.' She knew she didn't buy such a thing! Maybe the clerk accidentally bagged another customer's purchase with her own things.

"Er, I'm not really sure how this got here," Kagome began as she picked it up off the ground, "There was a lady in front of me at the pharmacy today buying a few of these. I guess the clerk put one of hers in my bag."

"Ok, but what it is?" Sango asked again.

"Well," the girl from the future wasn't exactly sure how to explain what it was to her friend, "Well, it tests to see if you're pregnant."

"Really?" the demon slayer asked, "How does it work?"

Kagome eyed her friend for a minute. There was more to her friend's question than she let on, but she knew that her friend wasn't ready to share just yet, "Well, you take one of these sticks and you um, pee on it."

"How does peeing on a stick have anything to do with being pregnant or not?"

"It has to do with how your body changes when you get pregnant and the hormones your body releases in your urine," Kagome attempted to explain, "Here, there are two in here lets use them for the heck of it," she offered. Her suspicions were further confirmed as her friends eyes looked almost longingly at the pink box. She had known that the slayer and monk friends had been getting close as far back as last fall, but she hadn't suspected they had gone that far. Of course a lot could have happened over the winter.

Breaking the seal on the package Kagome pulled the two sticks from the box, "Here, take the plastic tip off and go behind the bushes and pee on that end," she said as she handed her friend the stick and ushered her behind a bush, "I'll pee on mine over here." She couldn't think of a more awkward situation to be in. Peeing on sticks with her best friend in the middle of the woods hadn't been her vision for the day, but if it helped her friend in any way she would grin and bear it. Finishing her business behind her own bush, she righted herself and returned to the spring. Sango had already placed her test on a boulder on the opposite shore and was bathing quietly. Putting her own test in the top of her bag Kagome sat down and faced her friend, "So now we wait three minutes and it's done!"

The minutes passed quickly as the two women chatted about various topics such as Inuyasha's recent antics around his brother, Rin's health, and the upcoming battle. Inuyasha and Miroku had gone ahead several days prior in response to a rumor that Naraku was hiding in an old castle not far from the Western boarder nearly two days journey away. The rumor was confirmed when the two men encountered the wind witch Kagura along with a strange barrier erected around a rundown castle almost exactly two days journey away. As soon as Rin was well enough to return with Sesshoumaru they would travel to defeat Naraku once and for all.

Finally it was time to check the tests and Kagome instructed Sango that one line meant she was not pregnant, while two meant she was.

She heard her friend breathe a sigh of relief as she looked at hers, "It's only one line Kagome!" she exclaimed, but quickly caught herself, "What's yours say?" she asked in an attempt to seem like this all really was for the 'heck' of it as Kagome had said.

Kagome smiled at her friend and turned to pick up her stick. Her breath stopped in her throat as she stared down at her test. There, sitting innocently in the top of her bag were two bright pink lines staring back at her. "Just one line!" she exclaimed as convincingly as she could as she shoved the offending stick as far down into her bag as she could without creating a hole in the bottom. The slayer gave her a happy smile as she turned to finish washing her hair, and Kagome quickly excused herself from the spring with the explanation that she needed to check on Rin.

The young woman made her way as quickly as she could away from the spring. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute, and she was sure that she was on the verge of a panic attack. How could this have happened?

'You know exactly how this happened,' the voice in her mind piped up.

'You haven't bothered me in weeks, why are you back now?' Kagome hissed in her mind.

'I'm only here to offer my endless wisdom,' the voice said sarcastically, 'Since you seem to have forgotten how babies are made. Do you need me to explain it to you?'

'No, I am perfectly aware of how this happened. But it doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't have happened at all!'

She was silently cursing herself and her seemingly constant lack of common sense in this entire situation as she entered the clearing where the bone eater's well sat. She was fully set on going home to get a test done at the local free clinic to tell her that the home test had simply been mistaken, but was stopped in her tracks when she found Sesshoumaru and Miroku in the clearing as well.

"Ah Lady Kagome!" Miroku exclaimed as she entered the clearing, "You're just in time. I just finished informing Lord Sesshoumaru of our findings on Naraku, and he has agreed to travel with us in the common interest of destroying the evil hanyou."

Kagome fought a groan as she looked between the two males. Was this really happening to her? Really? Could her life get any worse?

"It has been decided that the old Miko is now more than capable of caring for Rin's safety," Sesshoumaru added, "We will leave immediately."

Yes, her life could get worse. Now she would be unable to go home to ease her mind of the dread that stupid stick had placed in her head.

"Well we'd better be going then," She said quietly as she turned in the direction of the villiage, "Sango will be back from the springs soon and I need to explain to Shippou why he won't be coming with us this time."

It was official. Her life was over. All she needed now was for Sesshoumaru to smell the change in her scent in order to nail the lid of her coffin shut.


	11. Chapter 10

AN: I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story so far. In response to some of the comments left I'd like to say that no, you're not supposed to feel sorry for Kagome for what she's done. You'll notice that more often than not I refer to her as a "girl" more often than not despite the fact that I have also stated that she is twenty years old. She is entering the stage in her life where a lot of growing up happens, and she will be learning that as we travel through this story.

In regards to Sesshoumaru's behavior… well let's put it this way for now as the details will be explained in the story itself. You'd be pretty frustrated with yourself and everyone else around you if you were an arrogant demon lord that couldn't remember an entire winter.

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Kagome lay on her futon idly playing with a strand of silver hair, "If you do not cease that action at once I will be forced to otherwise occupy you," her mate's voice came from the darkness. It was late and she could no longer make out his features in the darkness, but she knew that he could see her perfectly as she stuck out her bottom lip in mock pout.

"But Sesshou, I can't sleep," she whined as she pulled on his hair a little harder, "and besides you have such soft hair. Hair this great should be illegal." She heard him snort before turning towards her, effectively pulling his hair from her grasp.

"I do not know what nonsense you speak, but I do believe I warned you of the consequences of your actions," he said as his arms snaked around her waist effectively pulling her body flush with his own. Latching his mouth onto his mark he began to slowly run his tongue over the scar while his hands made their way under the furs that covered them and into her yukata. He heard her gasp as one of his wandering hands made its way to cup one of her breasts.

"Oh Sesshou," she whispered through another gasp as she felt his other hand work expertly down her back to massage the skin of her lower back, "Didn't we just do this less than an hour ago? I just managed to get my clothes back on!" Despite her words Kagome pressed herself further into the male holding her captive as if she were seeking to merge her body with his own.

"So you do not want this Sesshoumaru then?" her mate asked huskily before he nipped the delicate skin of her neck once more. He smirked when all she did was let out a small whine as her hands came up to hold his head in place over his mark, "My little onna how I cherish you," Kagome heard him say before moving his hand down further causing the world to explode around her.

Just as suddenly as it had exploded the world reordered itself and the girl from the future found herself no longer with her mate, but sitting against the old well. "Of course it would be a dream," she groaned as she fought to stand on shaky legs. She could still feel his hands on her skin. "And of course," she said as she looked around at a snow covered clearing in the middle of what should be summer, "I would have to still be dreaming." Aside from the fact that it was snowing, she shouldn't even be near the well. The group had left Kaede's village two days prior and were now sleeping soundly only a few hours from Naraku's castle.

"One would think that you did not wish to see me," a deep voice came from behind. Of course she knew who it belonged to, and didn't bother to turn towards it to reply.

"Of course I want to see you Sessho," she sighed, "I'm just so very tired of being jerked around in my dreams. One minute you're trying to kill me, and the next we're back in Talia's hut!" she finished a little more forcefully than she had intended, but she was so frustrated!

She heard him chuckle behind her as he moved closer to encircle her waist with his arms, "I assure you mate that it is not I that have tried to kill you," his breath was hot on her ear, "That was your own imagination getting the better of you. You would do well to learn the difference," he placed several small kisses down the column of her neck before slowly running his tongue over his mark, "And as for the hut," he said in between kisses, "those are our memories and what we have to hold onto now that our physical bodies are separated." He felt her relax in his arms, and he pulled her tighter to his body.

"Sesshou," Kagome groaned at the sensations he was creating on her neck, "There's something I need to tell you," she said as she attempted to pull away to face him.

She was rewarded with a low growl from her mate and his arms pulling her tighter against him, "You may tell me as you are."

She sighed in frustration. He could be so difficult at times, "I'm pregnant," was all she said. There was no need for anything more. He knew how it happened and exactly who the father was.

"Of that I am aware my onna," her mate replied simply.

She went rigid in his arms, "You…. Know?" How could he know? Did that mean that the Sesshoumaru in the real world knew too? Did he know it was his? Would he try to kill her in order to get rid of the abomination that would soon come into the world?

"Calm yourself mate," the phantom Sesshoumaru growled soothingly, "I know because I am a part of you. I assure you that my counterpart is none the wiser of your situation and will not be as long as you continue with that wretched powder you are so fond of." He felt her relax once again and he resumed his attentions to her neck affectionately, "You will carry my heir well," he whispered to her, "But now it is time to wake. The hanyou Naraku must be destroyed."

She felt him place one last kiss below her ear before she found herself sitting upright in her sleeping bag. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes she noticed that everyone else was already up and breaking camp. Apparently they had even already eaten without bothering to wake her.

"It's about time you woke up wench," Inuyasha huffed as he picked up her bag and tossed it to her, "We're breaking camp, get up. Naraku is only a few hours away."

"Inuyasha, you could be nicer to her you know," the demon slayer admonished the half demon before turning towards her female companion, "Sorry we didn't wake you for breakfast, but you haven't been eating in the mornings as of late and after the night you spend tossing and turning we felt it best to let you sleep in."

Kagome nodded in thanks before pulling herself off the ground to pack her things and catch up with the rest of the group. Of course she appreciated the extra sleep her friends allowed her, but she never liked to be the last one ready to go and found herself flushed a slight shade of red in embarrassment as she hurried herself. If only they knew the real reason she had been tossing in her sleep. They probably wouldn't have been so understanding then.

The journey to the evil hanyou's castle was a quiet affair. Each member of the group was too caught up in their own thoughts of the upcoming battle for any kind of conversation to take place. Kagome did her best to stay as far away from Sesshoumaru, who walked silently at the very back of the group. Even though the piece of his soul she carried assured her that he could not smell the change in her scent as long as she used the scent powder, she didn't want to take any chances. The last thing she needed was to be disemboweled before they even made it to Naraku.

Her thoughts of death and disembowelment were cut short as the wind around the tachi picked up and a shrill laugh could be heard in the air, "I see we have visitors," Kagura's voice cut through the wind as she came into view from the dark forest, "And just in time, my master and I were just about to come find you. You do have something that belongs to us after all." The demoness flashed an evil grin before launching an attack at the group in an attempt to separate them.

"Fuck you Bitch, where's Naraku!" Inuyasha yelled, dodging the witch's attack easily before pulling his sword from its sheath. He quickly launched his own attack at the offending demoness, managing to knock her back only slightly before she summoned Naraku's demon army to descend upon the group.

The battle seemed to carry on in slow motion to Kagome as she watched each of her friends, even Sesshoumaru, fight Naraku's army with a ferocity she had yet to see. She watched as Sango faced off with her brother with tears in her eyes, and Kagome cried with her. She looked on as Miroku used his wind tunnel to suck in as many oncoming youkai, and she could feel his pain as the poison insects pierced his hand.

Her resolve wavered as she saw Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru face off with Naraku. When had he shown up? She didn't know. She'd been too busy feeling helpless in the face of so much danger. Of course she knew she wasn't helpless as she had done what she could to fire her enchanted arrows into the crowds of demons, purifying dozens at a time, but she was no equal to any of her friends.

The girl from the future made her way through hordes of demons, bodies, and blood towards the three males battling in the middle of the carnage. She could see the half of the jewel Naraku held glowing a fierce red within the hanyou's body, "Inuyasha!" she called, "the jewel is in his chest!" She barely heard her friend reply with a hoarse 'right!' as he dove in to slash at Naraku's chest. He missed, and soon found himself impaled with one of the evil hanyou's tentacles before being tossed to the side.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed as she ran to his side, fighting for breath as a sharp stitch in her side caught her off guard, "Inuyasha, don't you dare die on me," she hissed, bringing her hand under his head to prop him up. The half demon pushed her away with a small 'keh' and got to his feet.

He looked up at his enemy and his brother continuing the battle he had just been ejected from, "Kagome, I'm going to attack him again. I need you to fire an arrow right where the jewel is when I give the word," he turned to her and placed a hand on either shoulder, "Can you do that for me?" he asked.

She looked up in his eyes that were so full of trust and confidence that she could do nothing more than nod in response to his question. Truth be told, she wasn't sure if she could actually hit a mark so small, but she would try for her friend. For all of them she would try. She saw a smile spread across Inuyasha's face as he awkwardly turned back towards the battle, the wound in his stomach protesting with each movement, and launched himself back into the fray. She watched as he raced back towards Naraku and heard his loud yell of 'Now!' when he let loose the wind scar against his opponent. Quickly, Kagome pulled her bow and let her arrow fly; praying to every Kami that existed that it would hit its mark.

A bright light blinded all in the clearing as Naraku's scream of anguish reached their ears. Kagome lost sight of her friends, and cried out for each one of them as she shielded her eyes. The light faded as quickly as it had come, leaving in its wake a sea of destruction. Lying on the ground she could see each of her friends breathing shallowly, but injured severely.

There were only two figures left standing in the clearing now; herself and the demon lord Sesshoumaru. The youkai lord stood at the edge of the carnage regarding her impassively, and she did her best to ignore him as she limped towards the pile of ash that had once been Naraku. The stitch in her side had gotten worse, and she now held her hand over it in a feeble attempt to dull the pain. Reaching into the ash she pulled out the half of the jewel that Naraku held, and held it up against its other half. The jewel was now whole.

Another shot of pain ripped through her, causing Kagome to double over to catch her breath. Opening her eyes she nearly cried out as she watched blood run down her legs from under her skirt, "No," she whispered in horror. This wasn't happening to her. First her friends were injured to the point of near death, and now she knew exactly what that blood and the pain in her abdomen was. Why did fate hate her so? Raising her eyes back to the thing that started the whole mess she allowed the tears to fall freely. After everything that had happened she couldn't find it in her heart to hate it, or anything for that matter. All she wanted was her friends to be happy, for Sesshoumaru to be happy, and for her baby to be ok.

"I wish you didn't exist," the girl breathed quietly before she realized what she had said. But it was too late, the wish had been made and the damage had been done. "No!" she cried as she watched the small crystal vanish from her hands and with it her own body began to fade. She turned frantically towards Sesshoumaru, needing to see him again before she was expelled from the world in which he existed. He only continued to stand and stare at her with indifference as her body finally faded from sight.

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The sound of a heart monitor was the only thing that could be heard in the small hospital room. A small form of a young woman could be seen on the tiny bed in the center of the space. Tubes were connected to her face, arms and chest, monitoring her life functions for any change; any sign of danger.

Mrs. Higurashi looked down at her daughter affectionately. It had been three days since Souta had found her eldest unconscious at the bottom of the old dry well caked in blood. They immediately called for an ambulance with the explanation that she must have fallen in by accident. For three days they watched over Kagome, and not once had she showed any signs of life aside from her shallow breathing. They had not heard any news on her condition from any of the doctors either, and Mrs. Higurashi was beginning to worry for her daughter's welfare. Surely if she was not seriously injured they would have informed her family of such, wouldn't they?

Of course she had an idea of what really happened. After all, she had been letting her only daughter run back and forth through the well on a dangerous quest filled with demons. But that didn't change the fact that no one was telling her what was physically wrong with her daughter. Frustrated, the older woman clenched her fists in her lap. She would simply have to go find Kagome's doctor and demand some answers.

Nodding to herself, Mrs. Higurashi stood and made her way to the door. Just as she reached for the handle the door opened and a young doctor stepped in the room, nearly knocking the elder woman over.

"Oh I do apologize," the young man said as he fumbled with his clip board with one hand while trying to steady Kagome's mother with the other. When he was sure that the older woman was ok he bowed slightly to her, "I am Doctor Sato, your daughter's physician."

Mrs. Higurashi bowed her head slightly in return, "It is nice to meet you Mr. Sato, have you come to give me news on my daughter?" It was about time someone other than a nurse that didn't seem to know the difference between a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope came into her daughter's room.

"Ah, yes ma'm," the young man replied as he pulled his clip board in front of his face and adjusted his glasses slightly, "I apologize for not coming sooner, but we were waiting on the results of her blood tests. It seems that she is in near perfect health aside from the trauma she suffered in the fall, and I am happy to inform you that we were indeed able to save her baby," The Doctor finished with a smile on his face, obviously proud of himself for being able to give the older woman the good news that her grandchild would indeed live. That smile faded, however, when he saw the color drain from the woman's face and watched her brace herself against the nearby wall.

"Baby?" was all she was able to get out as she turned to face the form of her sleeping daughter. When had that happened? Who was the father? Was it Inuyasha? No, it couldn't have been Inuyasha. Her daughter had confided in her during her last visit that she no longer loved the young half demon, but thought of him as a brother. Who could it have been then? Surely not anyone from this side of the well; her daughter never stayed long enough to see boys. "How far along is she?" she asked.

"About six weeks ma'm." The doctor was now uncomfortable with the situation. It was apparent that the mother was not aware of her daughter's condition. His previous sense of pride disappeared, and he now thought to finish his report so that he could leave, "Ahem," he righted himself again to finish, "As I was saying. We were able to save her baby, but are not able to determine when she might wake. It is entirely possible that the fall sent her into a coma. We will continue to monitor her for several more days to determine the probability of her waking anytime soon." The girl's mother only nodded in response, and the young doctor took the opportunity to excuse himself from the room.

Once the door was firmly closed behind him Doctor Sato let out a heavy sigh. He had only recently started his residency here, and the extreme emotions of the patient's family still managed to shake him. Gaining his bearings, the young doctor turned to head back to his office. He didn't make it very far, however, as he ran right into someone turning the corner in the hallway.

"Is it a common practice for new residents to not watch where they are walking?" the low baritone voice of the hospital's director reached the young doctor's ears.

"Of course not Doctor Takahashi!" Sato nearly cried as images of his now ruined career flashed through his mind, "I was merely shaken by the mother of the patient in room twenty-three."

"Calm yourself Doctor, I do not plan to have you removed from the premises," Takahashi said as he picked up the young resident's forgotten clip board and thumbed through its contents, "The patient's name is Higurashi?" he asked as a strange emotion flashed briefly through his hazel eyes.

Sato shifted nervously from one foot to the other under his boss' intense gaze. The girl's name seemed to bother him for some reason, and from the look on his face the resident knew it would be unwise to stay silent for much longer. "Hai, her name is Kagome Higurashi. She was found having fallen at the bottom of an old dry well on her family's shrine. We were able to stabilize her and save her child, but she has yet to wake. We fear there may be some kind of trauma that may have caused some permanent damage."

Another emotion passed over the Director's face before settling back to its normal indifference, "There is a child? Has the father been contacted?" he asked.

"No sir. When I went to inform Mrs. Higurashi of her daughter's condition I thought she might be able to give us his information so we could do so, but she apparently was not even aware that her daughter was pregnant."

"I see," Doctor Takahashi said as he flipped back through Kagome Higurashi's file, "You are dismissed as her doctor as I will now be her permanent physician," he finished before pushing past the stunned resident towards room twenty-three.

When he entered the now dark room the hospital's director noticed his patient's mother sleeping soundly on the small couch on the opposite side of the room, but ignored her presence as he made his way to the side of the small hospital bed. There, lying amongst an array of machinery and tubing was the young woman that had haunted his dreams for five hundred years. With his glamour active his senses were dulled greatly, and making out any detail of her was next to impossible, but he knew it to be her. She looked exactly as she did the day she vanished from the battle torn field, "My onna," he whispered as he moved one of his hands to the collar of her hospital gown, "how I have missed you." His hand moved the fabric of her gown down to reveal the mark he knew to be there and ran his fingers over it gently, "and now there is a child." He smirked, she may have fled from him five hundred years ago but he would not let her escape him again. Time heals all wounds, and he knew her to be his. His cherished, his female, his mate.

In the darkness of the small room the third occupant, whom had been thought to be asleep, smiled into the darkness.

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Hey another chapter in only a few days! I apologize for not being very good at battle scenes.


	12. Chapter 11

Once again I apologize for the time in between updates. At least it wasn't a year this time right? Anyway, thanks to everyone for your reviews! I hope I'll see more in the future.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

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Kagome found herself standing in a field. Of course this wasn't just any field, but the very place that the final battle had taken place. The girl from the future could still see the blood stains in the grass, and the gouges in the earth from Inuyasha's attacks.

"Why am I here?" Kagome wondered aloud. The bodies that once littered the ground were now gone, but her stomach still turned at the memory. "Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippou," she whispered, "are you alive?"

"Maybe they are, and maybe they aren't," came a voice from behind, "Of course we'll never know now after that little stunt you pulled."

Kagome turned to find the owner of the voice only to come face to face with herself. "Not you," she sighed as she placed one hand on her hip and used the other to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Why are you here, and what do you want?"

Her other self snorted a laugh, "I only want to congratulate you on your impeccable victory against Naraku and the jewel!" Letting out another laugh the phantom girl sat herself on the blood stained grass, "Of course you can't make anything simple can you? You just had to wish on that stupid marble and get us both into even more trouble than we already were."

Kagome tried her best not to flinch under the other girl's serious gaze. Trouble? What trouble were they in? More importantly, how had she been the cause? Her brows knitted together in thought. She had wished that the jewel didn't exist and she knew that she was more than likely back in her own time, but why would she be in trouble for it? "I don't understand," she said finally.

"Of course you don't," the phantom Kagome hissed, "You should know by now that the jewel doesn't grant any wish without consequences since there's no such thing as a wholly unselfish wish," she said. Her gaze turned thoughtful for a moment before standing once more, "It seems our time here is up," she said while brushing grass from her skirt, "you're just going to have to see for yourself what the price for your actions are. I only hope you've grown up enough to get through it," she said as she faded from view.

Kagome didn't have a chance to think on the phantom's words when the scene before her vanished, only to be replaced by a blinding light that dulled her senses and fogged her mind. When she opened her eyes she was greeted by the harsh white of a tiled ceiling.

"Kagome!" came a voice from her side. She knew that voice…

"Mama?" Kagome rasped, finding her throat dry and unable to properly form words. She tried to turn her head to find her mother, but the pain that shot through her neck at the slight movement stilled any further attempts, "Why does it hurt so bad?" she whispered, "and why am I so tired?"

She felt her mother's warm hand fall over her own, "Shhh dear," she said, "While we are all happy to see you awake, it seems you need to sleep more. Close your eyes and get some rest."

Kagome nodded as best she could before closing her eyes again and allowing sleep to take her once more.

Mrs. Higurashi patted her daughter's hand gently once she knew Kagome was asleep once more. Everyone would be happy to see that she'd finally woken up. Standing from her seat at her daughter's side, the older woman made her way into the hallway of the busy hospital and to the nurse's station. A young woman, not much older than Kagome, looked up from a file she was reading and smiled.

"How may I help you ma'm?" the young woman asked.

"I would like to be pointed in the direction of Dr. Takahashi's office."

"Of course," the young woman said as she stood and made her way around the counter, "Dr. Takahashi's office is down this hall and to the right. You'll find his office is the only one at the end of that hall."

"Thank you," the older woman said with a slight incline of her head before making her way down the hall in the direction she had been instructed to go. Finding the lone door at the end of the hall in no time at all, Kagome's mother knocked on the door.

"Enter," a baritone voice was heard from the other side, and the woman quietly turned the knob and let herself in. The man she had been seeking was turned away from her in his chair, seemingly looking out of the large window that spanned the entire back wall of his office.

"Dr. Takahashi," Mrs. Higurashi said. He made no move to neither face her nor acknowledge her presence, but she had expected as much. "My daughter has woken up." The older woman suppressed a smile as her last statement seemed to jolt the man to attention. He quickly spun his office chair around and stood.

"Why was I not informed by my staff?" his voice was harsh.

"I was the only one in the room, and you are the first person I chose to tell," the woman said, completely unfazed by the man's behavior.

"Hn," Dr. Takahashi seemed to relax at her words, "Then we will attend to her immediately," he said as he began making his way to the door.

"You are the father." Mrs. Higurashi said as he pushed passed her. It was a statement; a statement made so quietly that his dulled hearing had nearly missed it. But she had said it, and was now looking at him expectantly.

Sesshoumaru nodded slightly, "Kagome is my mate. As such it would be the only possibility that I am the cause of her condition."

"Her condition?" the older woman repeated with knitted brows, "You talk like she has a disease. She fell down a well and is pregnant, not suffering from some sort of life threatening illness." She couldn't decide if she wanted to laugh at the man, or berate him for his callous choice of words.

"Of that I am aware," the demon lord turned human doctor said. He was becoming impatient, why did this woman insist on keeping him here when Kagome was in need of his attentions? He began to move towards the door again when a small hand fell on his arm, successfully stalling his advance.

"When I heard," the woman began, "Of her condition, I thought it was Inuyasha's." Her grip on his arm was soft but firm and her eyes were boring into his as if they would reveal some hidden secret.

Sesshoumaru snorted, "My half brother is not capable of properly courting a woman such as Kagome, much less take her to bed in order to pup her." It turned his stomach to think of his half brother in the same room with his mate, and the thought of him actually touching her nearly made his eyes bleed red through his glamour.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled up at the man, or demon rather, that had somehow managed to go from the enemy of her daughter to the father of her grandchild. She'd heard many stories of Inuyasha's half brother, Sesshoumaru, and none were pleasant. If she was not witnessing his distress over Kagome's health, or had not witnesses his display the night before, she might have protested the relationship. "You will take care of her," she said finally.

"Of course," was all he said before pulling away from her grasp and walking out the door. He would not be delayed further by the human woman's babbling. He rounded the corner of the hall and made it to his mate's door in record time for a human. He allowed Kagome's mother to catch up before they both entered the room and locked the door.

The moment the door latched the demon lord removed the glamour that hid his youkai heritage. It would not do to have his mate see him for the first time in five hundred years as anything but who he truly was. His eyes drifted over her form on the bed as he quickly assessed her condition. Her breathing was slow and even, indicating that she had once again fallen asleep. He found himself disappointed by her lack of consciousness in his presence, and let out a small growl of frustration.

"She is still recovering Sesshoumaru-Sama," Kagome's mother whispered from his side, causing the youkai to turn towards her with narrowed eyes.

"Of that I am well aware woman," he hissed. This woman may be his mate's mother, but that did not give her the right to treat him as if he were insensitive or unaware of his female's condition or needs. He clenched his jaw in annoyance to which the woman at his side narrowed her eyes ever so slightly in challenge. He may be the father of her grandchild, but that did not excuse him from giving her some sort of respect as Kagome's mother.

Kagome was roused from her unconscious state by the sound of voices in her room. She recognized one as her mother, and she knew the other as well but she was finding it hard to place it with a face. Cracking her eyes open slowly as to avoid the crushing headache that would be accompanied with sudden light stimuli, she scanned the room for the source of the voices. She found them standing by the door; the two individuals seemingly having some sort of staring contest. Her mother was dwarfed by the tall man with silver hair that stood next to her, and the young woman could see the soft determination in the older woman's eyes. Turning her gaze to the silver haired man, Kagome studied him for a minute. He wore the clothing of a doctor, which led her to believe that perhaps he was the one in charge of her care, but upon further study of the man's features the young woman froze. Silver hair, gold eyes, magenta stripes, crescent moon marking on his forehead… the only man with such a description was the one male in all of existence that should not be wearing the clothing of a medical doctor.

With that thought she was sent into a panic. Why was Sesshoumaru here? How did he get to the future, and why on earth was he looking at her mother like he would slice her open at any moment? "Momma get away from him!" she cried, the sudden rush of adrenaline in her system allowing her to sit up fully in a futile attempt to reach her mother before she was slaughtered by the cold blooded killer's claws.

The shrill cry from across the room caused Mrs. Higurashi to jump slightly. She had been so caught up in showing her newfound son in law that she would not allow herself to be bullied that she had not noticed her daughter awaken, and from the startled look in the youkai's eyes he hadn't either. Quickly, the older woman hurried to her frantic daughter's side and gently eased her back down. She didn't understand why her daughter was so upset, but it was clear that it had something to do with Sesshoumaru.

"Shh Kagome," she whispered soothingly as she gently tucked a strand of her daughter's hair behind one of her small ears, "Sesshoumaru won't hurt either of us."

The young woman looked up at her mother in confusion. Had her mom gone crazy? "Mom, that's Inuyasha's brother over there. I've told you about him remember? He'll kill anyone without even thinking about it!"

"Honey, please calm down. It's not good for you in your condition," her mother pleaded, and she felt Kagome still under her hold. Letting out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding Mrs. Higurashi rubbed soothing circles over the back of one of her daughter's hands, "Now honey, can you tell me what happened to you?" Her daughter's face became thoughtful at that question, but her occasional wary glance towards the man that still stood by the door did not go unnoticed.

Kagome was doing her best to concentrate on doing as her mother said, but Inuyasha's brother standing quietly across the room wasn't making it easy. She glanced his way while she tried to concentrate on her mother's question she opened her mouth to answer, but stopped as she found herself unable to answer that question. How had she gotten so injured that her mother had seen it necessary to bring her to a hospital? The last thing she remembered was telling Inuyasha that she was going home for a few days before they set out to look for the shards again. They were running low on supplies, and with the weather getting colder as fall set in, she knew that they would end up traveling during at least the first part of the winter. It wouldn't be wise to be traveling in such conditions without a full stock.

"I don't really know mom," she said finally, "Last I remember I was heading home to get more supplies since our next destination would have us traveling during the winter to hunt for more shards."

"Impossible," the low baritone of the youkai that had been observing the pair was heard, "The jewel was completed, and Naraku slain." Sesshoumaru had been doing his best to remain quiet during the exchange between women as it seemed to be the most beneficial to his mate. She was clearly delirious from her condition, and he would not risk worsening her already fragile state. "And it was most certainly not winter at the time," he added. Time had eroded his memory of the exact date, but he was more than aware that winter had several weeks passed at the time of Naraku's demise. He watched as the young woman's face scrunched up in confusion. It was a look he would normally consider endearing had it not been created under such circumstances. There was a dull ache forming at the pit of his stomach as he watched her. It was a feeling he was not used to, but had experienced it more than he'd have liked over the past twenty-four hours.

Fear. The longer she remained silent, the more he realized that she had truly lost all memory of the time in the valley with him as well as the destruction of the evil hanyou and the reason for her disappearance. Had he a sense of humor he might have laughed at the irony in the situation. They were only mates because he had once been in the very same position she now found herself in. Of course, he had lost all memory where she was missing merely a few months. 'Of course they would also be the most important and cherished few months of my long life,' he thought bitterly as he turned away from the two women. He needed to get away to clear his mind and devise a plan to have his mate in his arms again. With one last glance at his mate he removed himself from the room, placing his glamour back in place quickly and returning to his office. He had a few phone calls to make.

* * *

"So what you're telling me is that I finished the jewel and then vanished completely from the feudal era?" Kagome asked for the tenth time that day. She'd been awake for three days, and her mother had explained much of the situation to her more than a dozen times, but she was having a hard time getting her brain to accept the fact that she'd somehow lost several months worth of her memories. It was also difficult to accept that she had also lost her friends, but she was slowly beginning to reach a sort of acceptance of the fact. She had done her crying over being forced back to her time nearly a year prior when she realized what her purpose in the feudal era truly was, and what fate would do to her once it was completed.

Mrs. Higurashi did her best not to roll her eyes, "Yes dear," she said for the millionth time since her daughter had woken up. After Sesshoumaru left the room three days prior, she had returned to his office to speak with him. They compared notes for several hours before concluding that Kagome's current state was due to the Jewel, and that her current injuries were those she suffered in that battle with Naraku. They couldn't figure out why Kagome's mind was completely void of any memory of the past few months, and the older woman finally excused herself from the youkai's presence once she saw the flash of crimson in his eyes. She could only imagine how he must feel to have the woman he loves not remember him in any other way than a mass murderer. "The doctors say you will be released tomorrow if you do not lapse into another coma," she said thoughtfully. A change of subject was sorely needed.

"Really?" Kagome asked curiously, "I haven't remembered anything though."

"Your memory will simply come with time dear," her mother said as she patted her daughter's hand, "Your body is fit to be cared for at home instead of in this stuffy hospital."

The younger woman only nodded as she turned to look out the hospital window. She was starting to suffer from cabin fever anyway. It would be nice to sleep in her own bed for once instead of an uncomfortable hospital bed where she was bothered on a near constant basis by the staff. If she heard someone comment one more time about how amazingly fast she was healing she was sure she would hurt someone. Hadn't any of them heard of Miko healing abilities? 'Of course not you idiot,' she berated herself. Mikos didn't exist anymore… in the public eye anyway.

"Sesshoumaru will be joining us for dinner tomorrow evening as well," Mrs. Higurashi said softly. She didn't miss the stiffening of her daughter's body, or the panic that seemed to suffocate the room at her statement. "Really honey, this isn't the evil man you remember. He's had five hundred years to grow up," she scolded as she squeezed Kagome's hand reassuringly.

"I know mom," the girl sighed. Her mother had been doing her best to convince her that this was a different youkai than the one she remembered, but it was just hard to accept that the demon that once tried to kill her suddenly wanted to be friends. She hadn't seen him since that first day she woke up to him staring her mother down, but she could sense him within the building almost constantly. It made her nervous.

Any further conversation on the matter was cut short by a young nurse coming into the room with a tray of medicine. She was apparently one of the Western residents of the hospital as her blonde hair and blue eyes showed no sign of Japanese heritage. "Good evening Miss. Higurashi!" the woman greeted cheerfully in less than perfect Japanese, "My name is Lauren, and I'm your nurse for the evening."

"Nice to meet you," Kagome greeted, "What's all this?" she asked, gesturing towards the tray that held at least four different sets of pills. Aside from her IV drip she hadn't been asked to take anything else during her stay.

The other woman smiled as she began putting them all into one small plastic cup before handing it to the young patient, "Nothing serious, just some supplements for the baby. You'll be given a prescription for these before you leave tomorrow."

Kagome dropped the plastic cup at the nurse's words, spilling the small pills onto the floor. "What baby?" she asked as the blood drained from her face. She looked up at the nurse expectantly for a moment before turning to the horrified face of her mother, "Mom, what baby?" she repeated, her voice almost a small whine as if to say 'please tell me she's got me confused with someone else.'

* * *

Really not very happy with this chapter, and I apologize for the way it ended. There wouldn't be another good place to leave you any time soon otherwise.


	13. Chapter 12

Short chapter just so you guys know I havent vanished!

Disclaimer still stands.

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Kagome sighed as she rubbed her belly thoughtfully. It had been only yesterday that the American nurse had accidentally let the cat out of the proverbial bag that she was pregnant. She'd hoped that it had been a mistake, and that the nurse misread her chart or thought she was someone else, but the look on her mother's face had told her everything she needed to know. Without waiting for an explanation she had asked to be left alone for a while. She hadn't heard from anyone aside from a nurse giving her food since.

'I should have asked mom to stay,' she thought. Her mother would probably know who the father was, and why he wasn't here now. Was the father someone she met during the time she still couldn't remember? Or was it someone she already knew? There was no way that it was Inuyasha's since he'd long since chosen, and it wasn't her. Or maybe it's worse than all that and she was raped or something. She shuddered at that thought. 'Maybe that's why her mother looked so terrified when the nurse slipped up.'

Before she could dwell on that embarrassing and degrading thought the door to her room opened to reveal an old woman. The woman was dressed in a simple blue dress that was far too big for her as most older women had a habit of wearing, and her white hair was pulled back from her face by a pair of what looked like chop sticks, 'what's the official name for that?' Kagome wondered absently as she waited for the woman to enter the room.

"Well hello there Kagome dear!" the woman greeted as she finally stepped into the room, "It's been quite some time since I've seen you."

The younger woman stared at the older woman in confusion. She didn't know this woman at all, "I'm sorry, but I don't remember you," she said finally after a few minutes of her mind drawing a blank at the woman's face.

"Oh that's all right dear," the old woman said, "My name's Talia, and we met a few months ago. It's only natural that you don't remember me. Now, come on and let's get you packed. I'm going to be your in house nurse for a while." The woman now identified as Talia scurried around the room, at a pace much faster than Kagome would have guessed her to be capable of, collecting the younger woman's belongings that had been scattered about by her mother.

"At home nurse?" Kagome asked. Why on earth would she need a nurse at her home? Wasn't her mother more than capable of handling that? Not to mention that she knew her family couldn't afford that sort of thing, "I'm sorry ma'm, but I'm afraid my family can't afford such a thing, so if this is some sort of thing assigned by my doctor I'm going to have to decline your services," she said as politely as she could.

Talia stopped what she was doing and scoffed at Kagome, "Child, my services are paid for by your mate so hush up and let me do my job." She winced a little at the shocked look on Kagome's face at the mention of "mate," but it simply wasn't in Talia's nature to skirt around an issue like everyone else had been doing. And while she'd been threatened with her life if she upset the girl for any reason, it had just slipped out at the younger woman's protest to her help. 'Oops," she thought sheepishly.

Kagome for her part found herself gaping for the second time in two days, once again unable to form words at the shock of yet another 'cat out of the bag' experience. "My what?" she finally managed. Surely she had heard wrong. Mate? There was no way she was anyone's mate. That would mean that she was with a demon, and her child was hanyou. Not to mention that she couldn't think of any demon's that she'd actually consider doing such a thing with, much less any that she'd tie herself to for all eternity. "Surely you're mistaken; your age must be getting to you."

"Oh stop, now you're starting to sound like him," Talia admonished, "The Kagome I know is sweeter than that."

"Like who?"

"Your mate of course," the old woman rolled her eyes. She knew what the younger woman was doing, but she also knew that if she said what she wanted to that she'd end up with an irate female. 'Yes,' she thought, 'telling her to get a hold of herself and stop hurting Sesshoumaru would go over _so _well." Talia finished packing Kagome's things and made her way back to the door, "I'm just going to take this stuff downstairs, I'll be back for you in a few minutes."

"Wait! You didn't answer…" but the old woman was gone before she could finish her sentence, "…my question… argh! Why is the world against me?" she cried as she flopped back on her bed. All she could do was hope that the day couldn't get any worse, 'Like my 'Mate' being some sort of two headed lizard,' she thought, 'Or someone like Sesshoumaru,' though the demon lord was certainly a better option than a two headed lizard.

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Sesshoumaru was sitting at his desk as he had been for the past few hours. The past few days were quite possibly the worst days of his life thus far. Even worse than the year he'd spent after his memories returned to him he would wager.

When Kagome had vanished from the battlefield that day he had felt a pain in his chest, but had not identified it as anything connected to the girl at the time. He had continued with his life as it had been, patrolling his lands with Jaken and Rin; following close behind and fighting with Inuyasha when they crossed paths. Unfortunately his nightmares had continued, and as time went on they revealed more and more of the woman he had killed more than a hundred times in his mind. When one vivid nightmare revealed that the woman had been none other than Kagome he had gone into a killing spree in frustration. Why was this woman haunting him? After that he did his best to avoid sleep, but his body eventually would force it upon him and would reveal more of the woman.

It had been nearly a year after her disappearance when Sesshoumaru's travels took him through a small valley during the heat of the summer, and when he crossed an old woman who looked and spoke to him as if they were old friends he paused. He did not remember this woman at all. Then she had asked where Kagome was, and he nearly killed her.

It would be another year before the healing spell Kagome had used on him finished its job, which he later learned that it was not designed to make one forget but rather separate the mind so that it would heal properly. The old woman had explained that when someone lost their memories and new ones were created it was often very painful and harmful to the mind for both sets of memories to exist at the same time while any healing was taking place. The spell healed the mind enough for the person's original memories to return, but to avoid stress locked any new memories created away until the mind had fully healed and was capable of handling the stress.

He'd been furious at himself for his weakness when they finally did return, but found it hard to stay that way as the feelings he'd developed for the girl won out over any anger he held for her. After all, it wasn't her fault he had believed that annoying old wench and pursued Kagome as his mate. It would be much later that he realized that he held some sort of respect for her prior to the incident which had spurred his beast to cooperate in full force in the conquest.

That was when the pain had begun. There had always been a dull ache in his chest that he had been able to ignore up until that point, but with the realization that he truly loved the woman known as Kagome and had lost her that it hit him in near crippling intensity. He'd confronted his brother, convinced that he was hiding her from him, only to find out that he would have to wait five hundred years to see her again. And for five hundred years he waited.

'Only to be greeted by a mate that does not remember this Sesshoumaru,' he thought bitterly. He knew he had not been the most noble of creatures in his long life, but surely he had not angered the kami's so much as to deserve this treatment.

Sesshoumaru's trip down memory lane was interrupted by the sound of his office door opening. "I knew I'd find you here!" the annoying voice of Talia was heard as the door latched behind her.

"What is it hag, I was under the impression that you were supposed to be seeing to my mate's release," Sesshoumaru said without turning his chair to face her. Five hundred years of the annoying woman's presence was beginning to get to him. If it weren't for the fact that he knew she was good for his mate he would not have called her.

"Oh hush Sesshoumaru, I'm only here to let you know that we'll be leaving within the hour," The old woman made her way around the desk and pulled something from her bag, "Here, I saw this in the gift shop and thought it might cheer you up," she said before placing a small box on the desk and turning back towards the door, "and before you ask. Kagome told me about it once so don't go thinking I used to spy on you!"

Before the demon lord could question the woman on her meaning she was gone, leaving him with the offending red box. He glared at it for a moment as if it would burst into flames or run away from the action, but to his dismay it merely continued to sit there oblivious to the homicidal demon sitting so close. Sighing, Sesshoumaru lifted the lid of the box and pulled the object from it. There, sitting in his hands was nothing other than a snow globe. Confused as to why Talia would give him such a thing he merely studied it for a moment.

Within the globe was a girl with long black hair wrapped up in a winter coat patting the head of a snowman that stood a short distance away.

_"Sorry just looking at you with the snow all around reminded me of a snow man."_

The corners of the demon lord's mouth turned up slightly in a ghost of a smile at the memory. For many years after his memories returned he and Rin would recreate the snowman Kagome had taught him to make that winter afternoon. The action served to help him cope with the loss of his mate, as well as bond with the little human girl he had grown to think of as a daughter. He still did not understand how he had any resemblance to the snowy abominations they created, but he learned quickly that his mate's mind was best left alone lest one want to go insane attempting to decipher its logic.

Carefully placing the object in an empty spot on his desk he averted his eyes towards the clock. It was now three-thirty. He was expected at the Higurashi's house for dinner at five. He only hoped that the old hag managed to keep her mouth shut enough so that he was not purified on sight upon arrival for dinner.


End file.
